


Scraped My Knee Falling For You

by standardusername



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe- No Supernatural, Eventual Smut, F/F, First Aid, Fluff, Smut, Tiny Gay Laura Hollis
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-12
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-08-30 13:40:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 26,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8535328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/standardusername/pseuds/standardusername
Summary: Laura has been asked to attend a first aid course as a favor to her friend LaFontaine. Initially she’s rather reluctant - until she meets her instructor that is.





	1. LaF's Plight

Laura looked up from the papers she was grading, glancing at the clock on her classroom wall - 4:40pm. I’ll just grade the rest of these papers at home, she thought to herself.

She started to gather her things, grabbing the rest of the papers to take with her. She’d been putting it off because she had a particular dislike for this class and knew these papers would not likely be a pleasure to grade. She had this class tomorrow and had mistakenly told them she would grade them all before their next lesson.

 Laura Hollis was an English teacher at Silas High School; she’d been on the job for two years although it never did feel that long to her.

 She grabbed her coat, slipped it on and was about to head for the light switch when the classroom door banged open. Laura was startled and looked to see LaFontaine standing in the doorway looking rather disheveled.

 “Oh great, you’re still here,” said LaFontaine trying to catch their breath with a look of relief appearing on their flushed face. They were wearing a white lab coat with a large hole burnt through so you could see their equally scorched tie underneath.

 “Woah LaF, what the hell happened to you?” Laura was trying to keep a straight face but when LaFontaine looked down at their clothes and the goggles they had on their head slipped down over their face, she started to giggle.

“Yeah, that’s kinda why I’m here…” They said, pushing the goggles back up and rubbing at the burn on the lab coat as if expecting it to just disappear.

“We had a small… _explosion_ in Class this afternoon.”

Laura’s eyebrows knitted together, “Um, sorry LaF but I can’t really help with that, I’m not very good with the whole sciencey thing.”

“No, it’s just that - you know I’m meant to be attending that first aid class for next couple days? Well… I need to be in school tomorrow to write up this incident report and I really need to see the principal and explain what happened or else this will be my third warni…” The more LaFontaine spoke the louder and faster they became. 

“LaF! Calm down, take a breath.” Laura interjected, smiling. LaF taught Science and as much as they loved teaching it, they never quite grasped the idea that the students just didn’t get science like they did. They often found themselves getting way too into their wacky science experiments and exposing the students to various dangers.

“What can _I_ help with?” Laura asked.

“I need you to attend that first aid class in my place.” LaF blurted out, looking at Laura with a hopeful expression but obviously expecting backlash.

“WHAT?” exclaimed Laura. “No, no, no! LaF, I was with you when you signed up for that training and I told you then that I don’t want that kind of responsibility.”

The two of them had been eating lunch in the break room one day when Danny, a PE teacher, came around with a form asking staff members to sign up if they wanted the training. Laura had straight up said no, much to Danny’s displeasure. Laura was not good with that sort of thing.

“I can’t…” She frowned, “I mean, what if someone actually needs emergency life saving first aid one day… and then its completely down to me to do the…”

“Look,” said LaFontaine, stopping her midsentence, raising their hands in the air and then bringing them to rest on Laura’s shoulders. “L, trust me, no one here will look to you in an emergency, there’s always someone else who can handle it.”

“Then why are you asking me to take this class?” She asked, confused.

“The school by law has to have so many trained staff members that’s all.” LaF shrugged. “Initially, I was meant to be one of those.”

“Besides, the school has already paid for it and I kinda already told Danny you would go in my place.” LaF’s hopeful smile turning into more of a grimace the longer Laura remained silent.

“Please L…” They pleaded.

Laura breathed out a long sigh and LaF's eyes lit up.

“Thank you! Thank you-!”

“Hey! I haven’t even said yes yet!” Laura said rather annoyed at LaF’s presumptiveness.

“Yes but you will” they said relieved.

Laura huffed, “LaF, do you remember that time you tripped over on the quad and twisted your ankle and I tried to help but we accidently bumped heads and you got knocked out? Do you remember that?”

They rubbed the back of their neck; their eyes flickered towards the ceiling as they thought. “…Not particularly well actually.”

“And you want _me_ to take on _that_ kind of responsibility?”

They thought for second and then nodded, “Yeah I’m cool with it.”

“Here just take this, tells you everything you need to know,” said LaF reaching into their pocket and forcing a folded up bit of paper into Laura’s hand. They turned for the door before glancing back at her.

“Look at this way L, you get four days off for this training.”

“FOUR DAYS OF IT?” Laura exclaimed.

“See you later Laura,” they hollered.

“LaF! I’m not sure whether…” but they had already disappeared down the corridor. 

Laura was left stunned. She really wasn’t expecting this to get thrown in her lap so suddenly. She had work to do, classes to teach. She’d hardly have time to prepare herself for something like this. Then she’d have to prepare the class work for whoever was to cover her classes for the rest of the week.

Well, Laura breathed out a sigh, …at least I won’t have to grade these papers tonight, throwing them back in her desk draw and heading out.

* 

Laura was sat at the center isle in her kitchen with an untouched bowl of Chokoa Crunch cereal in front of her. It was the morning of the dreaded first aid class and she was currently reading over the paper LaFontaine had given her. She was anxious just reading the course summery – CPR, choking, heart attacks, strokes, anaphylaxis…? What did that even mean? She frowned down at the sheet. Could she actually deal with any of this? She could hardly stand the sight of a paper cut, why was she doing this?

She flashed back to high school when every student had to take mandatory first aid class. To pass the class you were to enter the classroom to an unknown “emergency” and deal with it. Laura had been so worried about it that she entered the classroom to be met with an unconscious but breathing casualty and had forgotten everything she needed to do.

She grabbed her phone to check the time, she’d better leave soon she didn’t want to be late.

* 

“Oh crap I’m late,” Laura said to herself, glancing at the time on her car dash and then back at the traffic in front of her - moving at a snails pace.

Of course she was late! When are you ever early for anything?! She yelled at herself, checking the directions on her paper once more.

At 9:15 Laura pulled up outside the training building. She ran up the steps outside and was stood at the door…um, how do I… the automatic door wasn’t opening. She moved away and moved back, still nothing.

Is this a joke? She thought. She checked the time – 9.17. She tried to peer through the glass to get a peek inside. Just then the auto door began to open, Laura breathed out a sigh of relief, entered the building and approached a desk where an older lady was standing.

This lady is even shorter than I am! Laura mused, feeling tall for the first time in her life.

“Next time you want in you have to hit the buzzer on the side of the door or else I’d never know you were there. How long were you standing out there?” she asked obviously amused.

“I didn’t see any…” Laura glanced back over toward the door.

“Nevermind.” She shook her head to try and clear it. 

“I’m here for the first aid class, I’m running a little late so if you don’t mind...”

“ _A little late?”_ The older lady laughed, sitting down behind the desk and glancing at the clock.

“Okay, you need to go… down the hall, then turn right and it’s at the bottom of the corridor,” She gestured with her hand and Laura started to move.

“…And let me warn you now, she doesn’t appreciate tardiness. ”

Laura spun around, “Sorry, _who-what_?” Laura inquired, her nervousness increasing.

“Just go!” chuckled the little old lady.

Laura nodded and followed the directions she had been given, once she had turned right down the corridor she could see the door at the end of the hall.

Okay this is it, she tried to mentally prepare herself. She hated walking into a room full of unknown people, late and obviously uncomfortable.

Should she knock? Wait; was this even the right room?

She grabbed the handle and slowly opened the door. Everyone turned to look at her. Definitely the right room; she recognized some of the faces of people from work, including Danny. She felt a whole lot better.

That was until she turned to the front of the class and saw someone who was possibly one of the most attractive women Laura had ever seen. Looking at her, an eyebrow raised, a slightly annoyed expression gracing her perfect face.

“You do know you’re 20 minutes late, sweetheart.”


	2. Assume The Position

Laura tried to respond but was left speechless when she glanced down at the instructor’s choice of wardrobe. ‘Are they leather pants?’ The info sheet had advised to wear comfortable clothes but that cannot be appropriate, she stared. Although the ugly green polo she was wearing didn’t really seem to match her style. She supposed maybe that was mandatory.

She allowed her eyes to wonder back up to her face. Maybe this class wasn’t going to be so bad after all. When their eyes met and she remembered where she was. The instructor no longer looked angry though, she was wearing an amused smirk. Laura felt her heart rate pick up a little.

 “Um… I…there...” Laura tried to speak but she seemed to be having trouble finding words… any words at all in fact. She cleared her throat.

 “Okay… your newest classmate appears to be showing symptoms of a stroke… what might those be?” The instructor teased turning back to the class.

 “Sit down, Cutie.” She said quietly to Laura, whilst pointing to a raised hand at the back of the class. Laura recognized Kirsch, another colleague from work. She sat down in the only free space at the front of the class.

 “Unable to speak or incoherent speech?” Kirsch grinned and then fist pumped the air - proud of himself for knowing the answer.

 “Correct.” said the instructor “…and I haven’t even covered that yet.”

 She focused her attention back on Laura.

 “I’m Carmilla Karnstein, I’ll be your trainer for next four days. Since you arrived late you missed my talk on the suitable supplies to be kept in a medi kit so I’m going to have to keep you behind after class today and cover that with you. Is that okay, Cupcake?” Carmilla was leaning over her desk. Their faces were close. Oh god, her eyes are beautiful, Laura thought. She swallowed and tried to speak but found she could only nod in response.

 “Good.” Carmilla said, a smirk lighting up her face as Laura felt a blush rising in the cheeks. She was a little annoyed at herself; she was a grown woman, a teacher! She should be able to handle speaking to this slightly intimidating, totally gorgeous woman.

 Is it hot in here? She thought, and why is she _still_ staring at her like this?

Carmilla moved away and Laura felt like she could breathe again.

 “Wow, Hollis what’s up with you, you’ve never been so quiet!” Danny laughed from behind her. Laura spun around in her chair and scowled at Danny but that only made her smile wider.

 “Okay,” Carmilla addressed the class and Laura turned back to face her.

 “Students in this class will learn duties and responsibilies of first aid rescuers. You will learn actions to take in medical emergencies, including severe choking, heart attack, stroke, performing CPR and skills for handling injury including external bleeding, broken bones…”

 Laura could hardly take in any of what Carmilla was saying. The way she moved around the classroom was enchanting, so graceful. The way she moved her hands as she addressed the class. The air of confidence she gave off as she spoke. Laura was suddenly very happy to have taken this class for LaF, smiling to herself. She was going to enjoy this.

 Oh no, Carmilla was looking at her. It occurred to Laura that she was speaking to her once more.

 “Not planning to write _any_ of this down, Cutie?”

 She promptly sat up straight and glanced around the room - everyone was scribbling down notes at a fast pace.

 “Laura…” Laura said.

 “What?”

 “My name is Laura Hollis.” Sounding more confident than she felt.

 Carmilla was silent for a few seconds, looking down at her. Then she leaned over closer to her, her hands gripping the sides of Laura’s desk.

 “Cupcake, you were 18 minutes late for the introductions and I have a schedule to keep to.” With that, Carmilla focused her attention back on the class and Laura pulled out a notebook from her bag.

  

*

 “…Now I’m going to ask you all to watch this short clip on the recovery position and then we’ll all partner up and give it a try.” Carmilla said, turning to the computer and pressing play.

 It was very amusing to Laura, the acting in this was terrible and she was having trouble keeping a straight face. She had to bite her lip but she broke into a grin when the actor fell to the floor unconscious. She tried to cover her mouth with her hand but a slight sideways glance at Carmilla told her she had already been busted.

 Laura cleared her throat, pushed her hair behind her ear and returned her eyes to the screen. From the corner of her eye she saw Carmilla get up and come around to her side, kneeling down next to her also facing the screen.

 “Finding something amusing, Miss Hollis?” Carmilla spoke quietly next to her, eyes on the clip. “Because all I see is an unconscious gentleman in need of emergency aid, nothing funny about that is there?”

 Laura turned slightly to look at her, “Um, no… nothing funny, Miss Karnstein.” She couldn’t help the smile lighting up her face as they made eye contact. I could stare at her all day, Laura thought. Carmilla smiled back and Laura thought she might pass out… Good thing Carmilla was trained to tend to her if she did.

 The clip ended and Carmilla stood up. “Okay now it’s your turn, does everybody here think they can confidently give the recovery position a try?”

 There was a murmur of agreement throughout the classroom.

“Show of hands, who has completed a first aid in the workplace course before now?” Carmilla asked. Laura glanced around the room, oh crap she was the only one without her hand up.

 “Good, if you guys wanna pair up with someone and you can start going over the recovery position.”

 Laura felt a hand on her shoulder she turned to see Danny towering over her. She stood up to greet her.

 “Hey Danny, this is great isn’t it?”

 Danny initially frowned but then smiled. “Laura, did you watch any of that film just then because it looked to me like you were just staring at our instructor the entire time?”

 “Whaaa…I was not.” Laura started to say laughing off Danny’s claim.

 They were both interrupted.

 “Since we’ve got an odd amount of students in this class, I’ll be your partner Laura. I need to keep my eye on you as you’re new to this.” Carmilla stated.

 Danny looked rather displeased, even more so after she turned to see Kirsch standing behind her, the only other person left looking for a partner.

 “So Cutie, you’ve just found me unconscious on the floor…what do you do?” Carmilla asked folding her arms and looking at Laura expectantly.

 Oh crap, she thought, what was I meant to be doing? Carmilla was smiling at Laura, clearly very amused by her lack of response.

 "Um...well,' Laura mumbled running a hand through her hair, Carmilla was smirking at her again.

 "Okay Cutie, I'll go first - get down on the floor."

 Laura’s eyes drifted from Carmilla to the rest of the room, everyone appeared to be getting on with the task. Kirsch was currently lying on the floor with Danny leaning over him. He made eye contact with Laura and winked at her. 

 "You’re meant to be unconscious you numbskull!" Danny yelled at him, pushing his head back down. 

 Laura turned back to Carmilla - she was still looking at her expectantly.

 "Oh yeah... I'll just," Laura awkwardly knelt on floor in front of Carmilla, those damn leather pants inches away from her face. She looked up at her from this position, Carmilla looked like she was fighting a smile and Laura blushed deeply.  

 " _Lie down_ , Cutie" She repeated again sounding a little annoyed but Laura could see her lips twitching upwards.

 Carmilla knelt on the floor next to Laura - her knees touching her waist and hip. She looked down at her. 

 "Okay, so first thing you wanna do is look for any dangers but we're all pretty safe in here Cupcake so let's get to it."

 Laura suddenly felt anxious. Carmilla was leaning over - her face hovering above hers, her hair falling and tickling Laura’s face. 

 Carmilla’s hands came to rest on Laura's shoulders. "You’re going to want to try and get a response from your casualty," She said quietly to her. Laura nodded slightly.

She leaned in closer to Laura’s face, “Hello this is Carmilla, can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?” Laura tried not to but she started to giggle at Carmilla’s serious and obviously rehearsed tone.

 Laura felt a sharp pinch on the earlobe.

 “ _Oww!_ What was that for?!” Laura frowned trying to grab at her ear but Carmilla pushed her arm back down.

 “ _That_ is one way to get a response.” Carmilla chuckled. “Pinch the earlobe and if the person responds they’re conscious.”

 Laura was going to say something more but Carmilla shushed her and placed a finger over her lips.

 “Now I’m going to check your airway and see if you’re breathing.” Stated Carmilla, bringing her hand to Laura’s chin, grazing her lips with her thumb for a moment and then pushing her chin down pushing Laura’s mouth open.

 “Nothing in your mouth, no obstruction so I’m going to tilt your head back,” her other hand came around to the top of Laura’s head and tilted her head, “And now I’m going to see if you’re breathing, Cupcake.”

 Laura’s eyes widened as Carmilla’s face was know a mere inch from her own. Carmilla turned her head to the side looking across Laura’s body.

 She smells so good, Laura thought, if she could just lean a little closer... She suddenly became aware of how fast her heart was beating. She hoped Carmilla wouldn’t notice. She waited for her to move on but she wasn’t moving. Is this normal? Laura worried.

 “Cupcake, are you breathing at all?” Carmilla asked, turning her face back to look at Laura with that amused smirk on her lips once more.

 It occurred to Laura that she had been holding her breath. She released it and then sucked in a fresh breath. Laura could practically taste Carmilla’s scent. She almost wished she could move away for a second to clear her head.

 “Okay, I’m going to need you to play along as a _breathing casualty_ if you don’t mind, we’re not covering CPR today.” Carmilla laughed.

 “Yeah, um…sorry about that,” Laura didn’t think her face could turn any redder but alas she could feel it burning.

 “Okay, we’ve grasped that you’re breathing, what should I do now?” Carmilla asked, her eyes slipped down Laura’s face to her lips and back up.

 Laura cleared her throat and gulped, “Well I guess you would need to place me in the recovery position now.”

 Carmilla shook her head. “Afraid not Cutie, I’m gonna have to conduct a head to toe exam first.”

 Laura’s eyes widened.

 “A what!?” Laura stammered, raising herself up slightly and looking over to the rest of the class. Was everybody else doing this? Laura questioned to herself.

 Hands gripped at the sides of Laura’s head and turned her back so she was once again looking up into Carmilla’s dark eyes from her position on the floor. Her hands moved up onto Laura’s scalp, her fingers slipped into her hair rubbing around the back of her head. They then slipped down to her throat and her fingers lightly ran up and down the back of Laura’s neck.

 Laura let out a shuddering breath, is it meant to feel this good? Her eyes were sliding shut when Carmilla spoke up and it startled Laura.

 “I’ve checked the head for any obvious signs of fracture or wounds and the back of the neck for blood. Next I’ll examine your shoulders and collar bones.” Carmilla’s hands moved down to Laura’s shoulders gave them a light squeeze and then her fingertips lightly ran along her collarbones. Laura shivered and bit down on her lip.

 "All feels okay, now the ribs..." Carmilla's fingers tickled along Laura’s ribs. She took a deep breath, gnawing on her lip now, her breathing was picking up pace.

 Hands ran down her stomach and then slipped around to the small of her back. Carmilla stilled, Laura realized her eyes were closed - upon opening them Carmilla was staring down at her; her tongue ran over her bottom lip. Carmilla closed her eyes and sucked in a deep breath.

 "Um... blood… can pool in the small of the back, Miss Hollis," finishing her sentence with more certainty then she had started it. Her fingers continued to move up and down her lower back.

 "Okay." Laura choked out. 

 “Next we examine the arms." She backed off a little running her hands down each of her arms and then her hand gripped near the top of Laura’s thigh closest to her. 

 What is she doing? Laura almost sat up a little alarmed.

 "Now I'm checking your legs for any signs of fracture, blood or anything…unexpected." She ran her hands slowly down Laura's leg and then back up gripping her other leg and repeating the process. Laura shuddered as her hands moved.

 "The feet." said Carmilla. "Make sure to check in the shoes." She said a little louder, clearing her throat and then tapping the top of Laura's foot.

 Laura began to sit up but Carmilla moved back up Laura’s body to hover next to her once more.

 " _Now_ I'm going to place you in the recovery position."

 She reached over her body and grabbed Laura's hand - the one furthest away from her. She placed the back of Laura's hand against Laura’s opposite cheek and held it there. 

 With her other hand she reached and gripped Laura's knee and pulled it up until her foot was flat on the floor. They made eye contact again and Carmilla rubbed her thumb along the top of the knee. 

 Laura was practically panting by this point and she was sure the blush on her face was never going to fade.

 She pulled the leg towards her and Laura was pulled over onto her side facing toward Carmilla.

 "...And the last thing I need to do is open your airway." She gripped the side of Laura's head and forced her chin up away from her neck. Her fingers lingered there a little longer than Laura would have deemed necessary. Carmilla smiled down at her. They smiled at each other for a moment before Camilla leaned back on her heels.

 "Did you get all that, Creampuff?"

 Laura nodded and started to sit up, "You're perfect."

 "No! I mean... that was perfect... what you just did... was perfect." Laura blushed again totally embarrassed at her slip up.

 "Well I am the expert Cupcake, I’ll decide that. Now it's your turn," tapping Laura's thigh as she said this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've become obsessed with this. I dreamt about it last night.


	3. The Unconscious Casualty

Their positions were now reversed.

 Laura was looking down at Carmilla as she kneeled beside her.

 She glanced around the room; some people had changed partners and others were just making idle conversation. Laura could see Kirsch kneeling beside a woman she did not recognize. She picked up on a little of their conversation.

 “…girl, are you a defibrillator cause you’re sending shocks right through me!” Kirsch declared, trying out his best lines. The woman on the floor let out an annoying fake sounding laugh and Laura rolled her eyes.

 She looked down at Carmilla. Okay, what was the first thing she needed to do? Her mind was completely blank…all she could think about was Carmilla’s hands touching her.

She felt a tap on her leg. “See if I’m conscious, Cupcake.” Ah yes, that was it, Laura recalled.

 She leaned in close, not quite as close as Carmilla had been to her. A safe distance, she thought, so she wouldn’t do anything stupid, like accidently kiss her or something.

 “Can you… _hear me_?” She asked, feeling a tad foolish.

 Carmilla just stared up at her with a slight smile gracing her lips.

 “You know, if you were really unconscious your eyes would be closed.” Laura huffed self-consciously.

 Carmilla said nothing in reply and did not close her eyes.

 Laura breathed out a sigh. ”Okay…so now I’ll just check to see if you’re breathing…” She leaned in a little closer.

 “Which I already know you are…” She backed off quickly.

 “So lets just skip straight to…”

 “Nuh-uh, Cutie, run through it properly.” Carmilla interrupted.

 Laura huffed again and frowned at her. “Fine.”

 She leaned in as Carmilla had done and turned her face to the side. She could see the rise and fall of Carmilla’s chest and she could feel her warm breath against her ear.

 “Laura,” Carm whispered. She jumped up startled by how loud that sounded so close to her ear.

 “You said my name!” Laura said gleefully.

 “Huh?” Carmilla looked confused for a second before she said, “Cupcake, the head to toe exam is next,” before gesturing down her body.

 “Yes…of course, I knew that.” Laura said assertively. She did not know that.

 “Um...” Laura tried to recollect exactly what Carmilla had done to her…had she started by stroking her hair?

 Laura must have looked a little dumbfounded because Carmilla reached over and gripped both of Laura’s wrists.

 “Start with the head.” She brought Laura’s hands to the top of her head.

 “Remember you’re looking for anything unusual, blood or bumps.” Carmilla said before sliding Laura’s hands down to the back of her neck and then letting go.

 Laura recalled this. She somehow doubted her instructor would take as much pleasure in this part as she had done.

 Laura moved her hands to Carmilla’s shoulders and collarbones. “You’ve got it, Creampuff.”

 Laura placed her hands on Carmilla’s ribs; she was feeling shaky. She looked up at Carmilla; she was taking deep breaths and looking at Laura intently. Laura smiled at her before sliding her hands down over her stomach and around her waist to her back.

 Her arms were only so long though, she was leaning quite far over Carmilla to reach around her back from here. She let out a short nervous giggle and Carmilla reached for both of her hands once more, placing them both on the tops of her thighs.

 “Looks like you may finally be getting the hang of this.” She smirked at her.

 Laura stared down at her hands. They were stuck. She couldn’t move them. Those damn leather pants! She tried to take a deep breath but it just wasn’t deep enough.

 She forced her hands to move. They slid down Carmilla’s thighs slowly to her knees.

 She swallowed. “Nothing unusual there…” another nervous giggle.

 Stop talking! Laura told herself.

 Her hands came down to Carmilla’s boots. She stopped and quickly pulled her hands away. She was done! It's all over! She leaned back on her heels.

 “Cupcake…the recovery position?”

 Ah, she wasn’t done.

 “Yes, just getting around to that now,” Laura, said smiling and giving Carmilla a thumbs up.

 Oh god, why did she do that? Who does that?

 "Grab this hand and pull it up to the opposite side of my face.” Carmilla urged her. From here Laura was able to successfully put Carmilla in the recovery position with guidance of course but she’d done it nonetheless.

 Laura stood up, taking a deep breath. Phew! It’s over!

 She went to step over Carmilla, just as she apparently went to sit up because Laura’s foot caught Carmilla’s knee and she toppled right over her onto the floor.

 “Oh shit…Laura, are you okay?” Laura was mortified. Things couldn’t get any worse. Maybe if she just lay still everyone would forget she was there and leave her alone.

 She felt a hand on the shoulder and she turned over a little to meet Carmilla’s concerned gaze.

 “I’m sorry about that I didn’t expect you to step _right over_ me.” Carmilla said starting to pull Laura to her feet.

 “Are you okay? Do you need another head to toe exam?” She teased her.

 Laura forced a smile and a little laugh, “No, no! I’m fine, I just scraped my knee falling for you.” Her eyes bulged.

 “OVER you... falling… over you.” She was wrong - things could get a lot worse. She was humiliated. Maybe she should just leave now.

 Even Carmilla looked shocked at what she had said but then she smiled and told her to sit.

 “Laura, are you okay?” Danny approached looking concerned.

 “I’m fine, everything is fine. I just tripped.”

 “Everybody if you wanna take your seats…how did you all find that?” Carmilla was gesturing around the room.

 There was a positive murmur from the class in response.

 “Okay guys, we’re going to take a break and then we’ll meet back here again in around 40 minutes.”

 There was a sound of chairs scraping across the floor and people moving to leave the room. Laura could hear Kirsch as he walked by, “Did you hear about the guy whose whole left side was cut off? He’s all _right_ now.”

 "Shut up, Kirsch.” Danny yelled at him.

 Laura stood and started to gather her things.

 “Are you sure you’re alright, Cutie? Want me to take a look at your leg?” Carmilla was sitting on the desk next to Laura’s. They were alone.

 Laura smiled at her. “No, but thank you Carmilla.” She said earnestly.

 “No problem Cupcake, just please try not to knock yourself out while you’re gone. I might not be around to help you this time.”

 She laughed, “Well, looks like your only choice is to come with me then.” Laura joked as she pulled on her coat.

 “Okay.” Carmilla responded.

 What? Did she just say yes?

 Carmilla stood up. “Lets get lunch.”

 Carmilla sauntered over to the front of the room, grabbed a leather jacket off the back her chair and slipped it on.

 Wow this chick really has a thing for leather, Laura thought, and apparently so do I.

 "...Creampuff?"

 Huh? 

 Oh crap, those damn leather pants distracting her again. 

 "You sure you didn't hit your head, Cupcake?"

 Laura let out a short loud laugh.

 "HA!" Her hand came up to clamp over her mouth and then she pushed her hair behind the ear and cleared her throat.

 What the hell is wrong with you? She's going to think you're crazy!

 Carmilla’s eyebrows came together as she looked at her but then she smiled and gestured with her hand toward the door.

 "Right, lets go buddy!" Laura grimaced at what she had said as she walked down the corridor in front of Carmilla, hiding her red face.

 She heard a small chuckle coming from behind her. 

 Once they were outside Laura followed Carmilla's lead.

 "So, where are we going?" She enquired.

 Carmilla shrugged, "There's a sandwich place just around the corner if you wanna go there?"

 "Yeah sure." Laura replied, glancing over at Carmilla quickly and then down at her feet. She couldn’t stop herself from sneaking a glance at her once more. Carmilla was already looking at her this time with an almost shy expression, which changed to an intense gaze when they made eye contact.

 "Tell me about yourself, Creampuff."

 Laura's eyebrows drew together as she thought, "Okay. My name is Laura."

 Carmilla laughed. "I've grasped that believe it or not."

 She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it away from her face. Laura noted her chipped black nail polish. Her hands moved to the pockets of her jacket and stayed there.

 "I teach English at Silas."

 "Oh yeah, what's that like?"

 Laura shrugged, "It's okay I guess, depends on the class...I also manage a journalism club after school and run the school newspaper." She added proudly.

 "Ooh!" Carmilla mocked enthusiasm and Laura bumped their shoulders together in annoyance.

 "Hey!" Laura frowned at her. 

 "That bunched up little face you make when you're angry is hilarious, buttercup.” Carmilla laughed and Laura rolled her eyes.

 "What about you Carmilla? How did you end up doing this?"

 Carmilla looked down at her feet as they walked. She shrugged and frowned a little as if she was trying to work out exactly what to say.

 "I started out as paramedic, then I was a combat medic for a bit and now I just do this." She sounded a little defeated as she finished her sentence.

 "Is that all you're going to say!?" Laura probed her. She had so many questions she wanted to ask.

 They made eye contact. "I have to keep some of my secrets or I'll lose my air of mystery won’t I?" They chucked together and Carmilla stopped walking.

 They had made it to the sandwich shop. Carmilla walked in first holding the door open for Laura to walk past her and shrugging off her thanks. They waited in line. Carmilla grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of water whilst Laura grabbed a packet of cookies and a grape soda.

 Carmilla looked at her choices with a frown. "Is that all you're getting?"

 Laura looked up at her and then down to her hands.

 "No." she said, quickly grabbing the nearest sandwich. 

 "I was going to get this as well!" She held the sandwich up.

 Ewww cheese and onion! Gross! She hastily shoved it back on the shelf. She heard Carmilla chuckling behind her.

 Ahh, peanut butter and jelly. That's the one! She grabbed that off the shelf as the line moved forward.

 "I'll get it." Carmilla said as Laura placed her items on the counter, Carmilla placed her items down as well. 

 "Carm! No..."

 "Too late." Carmilla said as she handed the cash over and grabbed her sandwich. 

 "You can get it next time, Cutie." She said as they made their way to the exit.

 They walked in silence for a short while. Carmilla eating her sandwich whilst Laura picked chunks off a cookie. 

 "So, do you like your job?" Laura asked looking up at Carmilla. 

 "I like it today." She smiled at her and they just gazed at each other for a while until Carmilla cleared her throat and went back eating her sandwich.

*

 By the time they made it back to class, the majority of people had already returned. Laura took her seat and Carmilla sat down at her computer, focusing her attention on that.

 Danny came over and leaned on the table next to Laura's "Where'd you go?" She asked.

 "Oh I had lunch with Carmilla." Laura said matter of factly. 

 "Oh..." Danny replied glancing in Carmilla’s direction for a second before continuing, "Do you two already know each other or something?” She questioned. "You're both quite friendly."

 "Um... no. We were just both planning to go to the same place anyway so we thought, hey let's just _go together_ because why not..." she rambled on. 

 Why was she lying to Danny? That is not what happened.

 Soon after, Carmilla called the class to attention and everyone settled down in their seats. 

 Over the next few hours they covered a range of topics including seizures, poisons, shock and ran a number of “what if” scenarios in which Laura could never vividly see herself being any help to anyone in an emergency.

 They were just broaching the subject of choking when Carmilla asked for a volunteer. 

 Laura had never wanted to be a volunteer more in her entire life but she also didn't want to seem too eager so she didn't immediately move or raise her hand. 

 Kirsch stood up proudly and Laura felt like she'd been punched in the gut. 

 "Sorry dudebro, I'm gonna need someone a little more my own size." Carmilla stated. Kirsch frowned but then smiled at her, nodded and returned to his seat.

 "Miss Hollis, if you wouldn't mind joining me for a little demonstration."

 Laura stood immediately, her chair scraped loudly across the floor. She thought she heard Danny mutter something like, "big surprise there" but she couldn't be sure right now her attention was on Carmilla. 

 She walked and stood directly in front of her, smiling. She smiled back before reaching for her waist and turning her around to face in the opposite direction towards the class.

 Laura felt a blush rising in her cheeks. Carmilla’s hands hadn't moved - they stayed gripping at her waist. Laura decided to stare at the wall. She wasn't sure she could handle meeting anyone’s gaze right now.

Carmilla peaked out over Laura's shoulder to address the class. "If someone is choking the first thing you want to do is see if you can get him or her to cough. If that is unsuccessful your next approach is to give 5 back blows, heel of your palm to the center of the shoulder blades."

 "If that fails you want to try abdominal thrusts." Carmilla stated, "Lean the subject forward slightly," she pushed on Laura’s back and she leaned forward.

 Arms came around Laura so Carmilla was now hugging Laura from behind in her awkward leaned stance. Laura swallowed feeling very warm all of a sudden.

 "Make a fist with one hand, grip that with the other and place them above the navel. You'd want to pull forcefully inwards and upwards to be successful." Laura could feel Carmilla touching her all over. Her hips fit snugly against her behind. She tried not to think of other things that were touching her back right now. She took some deeper breaths. 

 Carmilla made motions with her hands but she did not perform the abdominal thrust on Laura. She was grateful for that. 

 "...And that's how it's done." Carmilla stated with finality but neither of them moved. "-And if that doesn't work then repeat the process until the obstruction is removed or they lose consciousness.”

 She patted Laura's waist and she straightened up. She turned around to face Carmilla and noticed a slight rosiness to her pale skin. They were interrupted from their gazing when Kirsch suddenly spoke up.

 "You know, the worst time to choke is during a game of charades." He said as if deep in thought, bringing his hand up to his chin, stroking his imaginary facial hair.

 Carmilla cleared her throat and looked toward the class. "That's about it for today, we've got a lot to get through over the next few days so please make sure you show up and be on time..." she smirked at Laura, "I can't pass you if you miss anything."

 Everyone started to get up and move around whilst Carmilla sat down at her computer. Laura grabbed her belongings and made to leave.

 "Where are you going, Cupcake?" Laura stilled and turned back to glance at Carmilla. She was definitely referring to her. 

 "You were late this morning you've still got some catching up to do." 

 Laura forced a smile at her, it's not like she wanted to leave, in fact she was more than happy to stay. It was just that she was feeling a little overwhelmed by everything that had happened today and she wanted to clear her head and think it over. She was also afraid the longer she stayed in Carmilla’s presence the more opportunity she had to embarrass herself again.

 She took her seat at the front once more and Carmilla typed away on her computer for a moment before turning her attention toward Laura and smiling.

 She stood grabbed a first aid kit from her desk and then pulled her chair over to where Laura was sitting. She sat down opposite her across her small desk. Carmilla placed the kit on the table in front of them and began to talk.

 For the next 25 minutes or so they went over everything that Laura had missed. Laura pulled out her cookies and offered one to Carmilla. They went over what should be kept in a working first aid kit... and anything that should not be in there.

 "...And because you're technically forbidden from removing any foreign objects from the body, you can't keep tweezers in the kit, also it's very unhygienic." Carmilla said eating the last of her cookie.

 "Hang on, so what you're saying is that I can't even remove a splinter from someone's finger?" Laura questioned. 

 Carmilla shook her head and chuckled. "Nope, technically only a medical professional can really do that. Just the way it is." 

 " _This is a joke_!" Laura giggled and Carmilla smiled broadly at her. 

 Carmilla reached across the desk to lightly grip Laura's arm to draw her attention back to her. 

 "As fun as this has been having you make a complete mockery of my training, we're finished for the day, Cutie."

 The smile dropped from Laura's face, she didn't want this to be over.

 Carmilla began to tidy away the supplies she had pulled out of the kit and clear the desk. Laura watched her do this in silence and when she stood, she followed suit.

 She gathered her things.

 "So I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" Laura asked suddenly feeling a tad awkward.

 "Try not to be late this time." Carmilla teased as she pulled on her jacket. It appeared she was also leaving.

 Laura lingered. She watched Carmilla reach down under the desk and pull a motorcycle helmet out. 

 Oh... now _that_ would explain all the leather, Laura realized. Laura suddenly had visions of Carmilla straddling a motorcycle and then visions of herself on the back gripping Carmilla’s waist tightly.

 "Going my way?" Laura attempted a joke as they both reached the door at the same time. They walked together down the corridor. 

 "So I'm guessing you ride a motorcycle?"

 “What gave that away, Cupcake?"

 Laura gave a nervous chuckle but said nothing more. 

 They walked side by side in comfortable silence. Outside Laura saw Carmilla approach her bike. Why hadn't she noticed that before? 

 Carmilla turned back to look at her as she went to pull on her helmet.

 "You got a ride?"

 Laura held up her keys, "Car" she said and Carmilla nodded.

"Bye then." Laura gave a small wave and Carmilla gave another nod.

 Laura walked, glancing back every now and then at Carmilla as she climbed onto her bike. She heard the engine come to life and looked back just in time to see her speeding away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is interested, everything Carmilla teaches in this fic is factual and real first aid! So maybe you might learn a thing or two along the way.


	4. The Teacher's Pet

Laura awoke before her alarm as she usually did. She was feeling more tired than was normal. She’d had some exceptionally vivid dreams the night before. One particular dream involving some delightful leather pants.

Laura shot up in bed as memories filtered through of the day before. She was no longer sleepy; she was eager to see Carmilla again.

 She reached for her phone. There was a text from LaFontaine.

LaF: _How’s the training going, L? ;)_

 Laura looked at the text, confused. Had LaF typed that winky face by mistake?

 She was going to reply when a second text came through.

LaF: _So I was catching up with Kirsch last night and he may have said a thing or two about you and some “super hot” instructor? You stayed behind for an after school sesh…?_

Laura was stunned. Is that what everyone thought? She typed back as quickly as she could.

L: _I only just met her! I don’t have the slightest idea what you’re talking about. You know Kirsch, he saw me conversing with the school janitor once and thought we were a thing!_

LaF: _Danny had something similar to say as well, although she didn’t seem to be quite as excited about it as Kirsch was._

Laura huffed and threw her phone toward the end of her bed and pulled the sheet up over her head. How was she going to face everyone today knowing they were all gossiping about her and Carmilla?

 Well, Laura reasoned, her eagerness to see Carmilla again definitely outweighs her current embarrassment. She forced herself up and out of bed. She was determined not to be late this morning.

*

 She jumped out of her car and ran up the steps. She pressed the buzzer on the door about 12 times in rush to get inside. How had she managed this - it’s 9.03, she’s late again!

The door opened and Laura hurried in. She gave a quick good morning to the lady behind the desk and then sprinted around and down the two corridors leading to the classroom.

She pushed the door open, “I’m not late! I’m here I’m not late!” she said hurriedly. Carmilla appeared to have been startled into silence.

 Okay not my best entrance, Laura thought.

“…with your partner and write down as much as you can remember.” Carmilla said, finishing the sentence Laura had interrupted.

The class began to talk among themselves. Laura took her seat, breathing heavier than normal due to her exertion.

Carmilla was looking at her with an amused expression. “Did you run here this morning, Cupcake?” Carmilla enquired. “You’re looking a little flushed.”

She was wearing another ugly green polo and Laura noted a complete absence of leather pants today. She felt a little disappointed by her black jeans.

“Do you have to wear that?” Laura blurted out.

“What?”

“That shirt.” She replied.

“Oh, you think I might be wearing this by choice, Cutie?”

 Laura shrugged.

 Carmilla checked the time; “It appears you were a couple minutes late this morning.” She smirked at Laura. “Lucky for you, you didn’t miss anything so I’ll let that slide.” 

*

 “That’s feels a little tight, Laura.” Kirsch said, as she finished wrapping his head up in a bandage.

 “It’s meant to be Kirsch, we don’t want your brain to fall out.” Laura teased him, patting him on the head.

 “What brain?” bantered Danny, who was currently sitting on the desk next to them. She had an eye patch and her arm wrapped in bandages supported with a triangular sling.

 They had spent a majority of the morning learning how to treat wounds and how to apply bandages correctly. Laura found this to be very enjoyable.

 “Kirsch, don’t mess with your bandage, don’t you want it to heal?” Laura playfully chastised him.

 “… Love heals all wounds.” Kirsch responded, wiggling his eyebrows at Laura.

 Danny made a gagging sound and threw a rolled up bandage at his head.

 “Are you for real?” She hollered at him.

 Laura looked around for Carmilla. She was conversing with some other members of the class. She was in her element, Laura thought as she watched her instructing them on something she couldn’t hear. She was moving her hands about as she spoke, her expression quite serious and then it changed into a striking smile. It made Laura smile. Carmilla glanced over at Laura as if she felt her gaze and they made eye contact for a moment before Carmilla looked away.

 Laura focused her attention back on Danny and Kirsch as they continued to mock each other.

 “Hey Laura, do you know why Lawrence’s hair is red?”

 Laura wondered what she had missed. “She got _marooned_!”

 Danny pulled the eye patch bandage off her head and tried to punch Kirsch’s shoulder.

 “YARRRR!” Kirsch did his best impression of a pirate as he dodged her.

 Laura rolled her eyes and giggled at them.

 “Looks like you guys are having way too much fun.” Laura heard in her ear. She was startled and turned around.

 Carmilla smiled and then looked very concerned.

 “What happened to your head, Cupcake?” Laura panicked for second and then laughed – she had forgotten about her own pretend head injury. She pulled the bandage off and ran a hand through the hair.

 “It’s all better now.” She smiled.

 “Yes… perfect.” Carmilla nodded. They stared at each other. Laura couldn’t look away. She didn’t want to. Carmilla’s gaze flickered down to Laura’s mouth for a second when she chewed her bottom lip.

 “Hey Teach, can we like go grab something to eat?” Kirsch intruded.

 Carmilla looked angry at the interruption and then her expression turned neutral and she spoke to the class. “Yes, go and grab lunch everyone.”

 “Take that bandage off your head Kirsch, you look like a fool.” Danny complained.

 “No way! Think of all the attention I’ll get from the ladies!” Pointing at it. “Ton of sympathy hugs coming my way.” He beamed as they made for the exit.

 Laura looked over toward Carmilla; she was collecting up the rogue bandages from around the room and rolling them up. Laura decided to help her out because she was a helpful, kind person and definitely not because she wanted to spend more time with her.

 “Going out for your lunch?” Carmilla asked when Laura brought the last of the bandages over to her.

 Laura shook her head. “Nope.”

 Carmilla’s face dropped in what appeared to be disappointment.

 “I brought lunch with me today and I have enough to share if you want to join me?” Laura asked feeling a tad shy.

 Carmilla only smiled in response.

*

 “Cupcake, this isn’t lunch. It’s just two packets of cookies.” Carmilla mocked displeasure as they sat together around Laura’s desk.

 “Yes but…I also brought two apples!” Laura said proudly as she pulled them out of her bag.

 “Ooh, teacher's pet.” Carmilla winked at her, grabbing one and taking a bite with that sexy smirk gracing her face. How could anyone make eating an apple look so riveting? Laura wondered.

 “Were you then?” She asked before biting into the apple again.

 Laura’s eyebrows drew together, “Was I what?”

 “The teacher's pet.” She answered.

 Laura guffawed. She shook her head but that telltale flush was rising in her cheeks.

 “Cupcake, you’re so prissy and proper there’s no way you weren’t.” She stated.

 “Hey, I was not!” Laura said sounding appalled, a smile on her face however.

 “You’re just lying to yourself about that.” Carmilla suspected.

 Laura frowned. “Well it’s better than being a…”

 “A what…?” Carmilla asked sitting up in her seat and rising to the challenge.

 “Smug.” Laura leaned forward in her chair.

 “Tightly-wound,” Carmilla retorted.

 “Condescending.“

 “Nerdy.” Laura felt Carmilla’s warm breath on her face as they leaned over the desk toward each other.

 “Superior”

 “Pri-” Carmilla did not finish her retort. A needy sort of sound slipped out of Laura’s mouth and that drew Carmilla’s attention. Laura’s tongue ran along her lip and then her teeth bit down upon it. Carmilla was staring intently at Laura’s mouth, her expression almost pained. Carmilla hands reached up and grasped at Laura’s waist. Laura couldn’t stand this anymore. She leaned closer fully intending to close the gap.

 “…whatever she was totally into me!”

 Voices in the hallway startled Laura and she looked toward the door. Carmilla sighed heavily, her forehead leaning against Laura’s shoulder for a second before Laura dropped back down onto her chair.

 The class began to convene around them with absolutely no idea what they had just nearly interrupted. Carmilla stood up and ran a hand through the hair. She gazed down at Laura longingly for moment more before she appeared to snap out of it and retreated to her desk where she stared at her computer screen – her eyes unmoving.

 Laura stared at her desk - wringing her hands together in frustration, glancing up every few seconds to peak at Carmilla.

 "Why is there a half eaten apple under my desk?" Danny picked it up, bewildered. 

 Laura flushed.

 “I’ll have it,” kidded Kirsch.

 She dared not move or look over at Danny incase her eyes gave something away. Not that their was anything to “give way” per se because nothing had actually happened. She rambled in her mind.

 Carmilla stood, cleared her throat and started to address the class - her expression and tone neutral as she began to talk.

*

 The afternoon went by rather uneventfully after that. Laura couldn't be sure what Carmilla’s feelings were about what nearly happened at lunch. This made Laura anxious and she quickly became very invested in her note taking. She could hardly pry up the courage to look at Carmilla at all.

 On the bright side, Laura could now successfully name the ten reasons why a person might lose consciousness so that could be super useful.

 "...And that is why you should never try to clean an amputated limb." Carmilla said seriously to the group.

 Carmilla looked at the clock on the wall. "That's about it for today, we'll continue this tomorrow." 

 Laura began to gather her things very slowly as Carmilla said goodbyes to the class. She had no reason to stay today but it’s all she wanted to do.

 "Everything alright, Cupcake?" Carm was looking over at her from her desk.

 Laura felt relief hearing Carmilla utter that nickname.

 Laura nodded, “Yes, just a little sleepy is all.”

 “Bore you did I?” She smiled.

 “No! Just, uh, some squicky dreams I had last night.”

 “Oh yeah, what about?”

 Laura looked down in an attempt to conceal her blush as she recalled some of the dreams in which Carmilla had played a starring role. “…nothing important.”

 “So, staying behind for a little extra practice this evening, Cupcake?” 

 Laura chuckled softly. “Um…I guess not.”

 “What a shame, I was all prepared to stand in as your unconscious casualty once again.” Carmilla smirked, lifting both her feet up onto the desk and leaning back in her chair.

Laura nervously pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

 “So, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow then.” Laura asked.

 “Oh, Cupcake… I’m not teaching your class tomorrow.”

Laura didn’t even attempt to hide the rampant disappointment she felt. In fact she was certain she looked absolutely horrified.

Carmilla’s expression changed from serious to laughter just a second later.

Laura was somewhat alarmed before she figured it out, “You’re lying.” She smiled, relieved and embarrassed.

Carmilla nodded, still recovering. “Nice to know I would have been missed though.” She grinned at Laura.

“Well, I would miss you… because you’re such a good teacher.” Laura improvised. She wasn’t technically lying... Carmilla was a great teacher.

“Very true.” nodded Carmilla smugly.

“So I will see you tomorrow then?” Laura asked.

“Yes Laura.” She replied, exasperated.

“Good.” Laura nodded once and looked toward the door. 

“Bye Carm.”

“Bye, Cupcake.” 

She went to leave but glanced back at Carmilla when she clasped the door handle. She was watching her. 

“Go on, Cutie!” She laughed and Laura left with one last wave.


	5. Stayin' Alive

It was 8:47 when Laura pushed opened the door to the classroom on the third day of her first aid course. There were a few people dotted around waiting for class to start.

 She couldn’t see Carmilla anywhere; she must have arrived before her, Laura pondered happily. She approached her desk and was by greeted Danny.

 “How are you finding it Laura? She asked.

 “It’s great, I mean at first I was totally not even interested but now I’m thinking shouldn’t everyone know this stuff? It’s kind of important don’t you think? Like what if you just collapsed right now, at least I’ve got an idea of what to do, you know, just in case.” Laura rambled on and Danny just nodded.

 “So I was thinking did you maybe want to meet tonight and study together for the exams tomorrow?” Danny asked.

 Laura laughed, “What exam?”

 “Laura… there’s a written and practical test you have to pass to get certified. Did you not know that?” Danny smiled at her.

 Laura’s eyes widened, “No! I had no idea! Are you serious?”

 She looked around the room as if looking for someone confirm the truth.

 In that moment Carmilla entered the classroom. She mocked surprise at seeing Laura and peered at the clock on the wall in shock.

 “Do my eyes deceive me?” She teased. “Is Miss Hollis here early?”

 Laura initially smiled at her but then turned serious and hurried over. 

 “There’s an exam tomorrow?! This is first I’ve heard!” Laura exclaimed.

 Carmilla looked confused and then realization dawned on her face. “I’m sorry, Cupcake, you were late on the first day when I told the class. Don’t worry about it though, you’ll be fine. If you’re concerned about anything we can go over it together later.” She reassured her.

 Laura nodded and took a calming breath.

*

 “Cardiopulmonary resuscitation, better known as CPR is basically a last resort. If you’re preparing to perform CPR then your casualty is pretty much dead. If your casualty is unconscious and _not_ breathing then you want to start CPR as quickly as possible. The point of CPR is get oxygen into the body to prevent brain damage. The longer the person is down, the higher the risk of brain damage. To actually get the heart beating again it would require an A.E.D, a defibrillator.”

 “Show of hands - who currently has a defib at their workplace?” Carmilla asked.

 Laura had no idea about that. She couldn’t even remember ever seeing a first aid kit at work never mind a defibrillator. She glanced across the room at Danny her hand was raised so Laura raised her hand.

 Carmilla nodded in approval as most of the class had raised their hands.

 “Miss Hollis, you work at Silas High. Where is your difib kept?” Carmilla questioned her.

 Oh crap!

 “Um… in the …defib….room?” she improvised poorly, she heard Kirsch’s laughter behind her.

 “It’s in the first aid office.” Stated Danny seriously. 

 Ah, yeah on reflection probably could have guessed that, Laura thought.

 “Today you’re going to learn how to correctly perform CPR. You want to do 30 chest compressions to every 2 breaths you give the casualty. You will give chest compressions at a rate of between 100 to 120 beats a minute. In terms of chest depth your compressions should be around 2 and a half inches deep.”

 “Oh and one last thing, if I hear anyone singing _Stayin’ Alive_ today I will automatically fail you.” Carmilla said before she left the room to grab the practice dummies. Laura did not know whether she was serious about that or not.

*

 Everyone was kneeling on the floor with a practice dummy in front of them. The class watched Carmilla as she performed exactly what they needed to do. She was confident and quick; it was rather impressive to watch. Laura mentally chastised herself for being envious of the dummy as Carmilla gave it mouth to mouth.

 “You need to make sure the head is tilted back to keep that airway open because if you don’t, then the CPR is pointless. If you do it like I just did you’ll be fine.”

 The group began to practice CPR on their own dummies. Carmilla watched the class one by one advising and perfecting their techniques.

 “It doesn’t matter whether they can’t feel it Kirsch, you can’t tilt the head back by the nose it’s not a handle.” Carmilla argued with him.  

 Laura sat back on her heels and took a breath. This was harder than it looked; she grew tired after only a minute. Carmilla came over and kneeled next to her.

 “How disappointing, I thought we were going to practice the CPR on each other.” Laura joked, frowning down at her creepy dummy.

 “I’d rather you not leave here with broken ribs, Cupcake.” Carmilla replied.

 “Come on, I need to judge your technique.”

 Laura performed a minute of CPR on her dummy as Carmilla watched her. When Laura looked up at her she was smiling and nodding her head.

 “That was good, really good actually. Your compression rate was high and your breaths were pretty fast. Good for a first timer.” Laura blushed and smiled at Carmilla’s praise.

 “I’d let you perform CPR on me any day.” She teased.

 “Than-” Laura was interrupted.

 “So Carm, have you ever had to like do CPR on a real person?” Kirsch asked with interest.

 “It’s _Carmilla_ and yes I have,” she answered with irritation, turning back to look at Laura.

 “Cool! When?” He asked intrigued.

 Carmilla looked a little agitated like she’d rather not talk about this. “I was a paramedic Dudebro, when do you think?”

 Kirsch didn’t seem to be catching onto Carmilla’s tone “So you’re like a real hero then? Have you ever done CPR on someone you know?”

 Carmilla stiffened, her agitation turning to anger; she pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers and took a deep breath.

 Laura improvised, “Kirsch, did you ever hear about the lady who was stung by a bee whilst playing golf?” pulling Kirsch away from Carmilla and changing the subject.

*

 At lunch Laura decided to stay in the classroom to study her notes, with an exam looming over her head she was now taking this course a lot more seriously.

 Carmilla had been acting all grumpy since Kirsch’s questioning earlier and Laura didn’t like it. She was currently sat at the desk with her feet up and face hidden behind a book.

 Laura got up and approached her, lingering uneasily for second before she spoke. “Carm, are you okay?” She asked with concern.

 Carmilla didn’t move or say anything for a moment.

 “What happened to her?” Carmilla asked, dropping the book down to reveal her face.

 “Who?” Laura asked, bewildered.

 “The lady who got stung by the bee.”

 “Oh!” Laura laughed, blushed and shook her head. “Carm, it’s just a stupid, immature joke, it’s not even funny.”

 “Tell me.” She asked, sitting up - seeming a little more herself.

 ”Okay then, so, some golfers were approaching their first tee when they saw a woman being given first aid.” Laura pushed some hair behind her ear and folded her arms.

 “One of the golfers asked what happened and he was told that the woman had been stung by a bee and was having a bad reaction.” She continued.

 “‘Where was she stung?’ the golfer asked and the first aider said ‘Between the first and second hole.’ And then the golfer said ‘Wow, She must have been standing right over the hive.’”

 Laura finished the joke and covered her face with embarrassment.

 Carmilla’s lips twitched upwards. shook her head and ran a hand through her hair and chuckled.

 Laura took a step closer and leaned against Carm’s desk. ”Carm, I’m sorry about Kirsch, he doesn’t mean to pry.”

 “It’s fine, Cupcake. It doesn’t matter.”

 “Carm…did something…bad happen?” Laura didn’t know whether she was being too intrusive but she hoped that Carmilla might be more willing to open up to her.

 Carmilla didn’t respond right away and Laura worried she had gone too far.

 “Just some bad memories is all. I was a combat medic, it wasn’t all sunshine and daisies, Cupcake.” Carmilla responded. “Even back when I was just a paramedic, it’s a tough job. Lackwits see the flashing lights and think it’s all excitement and playing the hero. Well it’s nothing like that… nothing like that at all.”

 Laura nodded slowly, she wasn’t sure how to respond.

 She thought for a moment and then slowly leaned closer to Carmilla.

 “Sounds like you might need a hug.” Laura leaned down and wrapped her arms around her. Carmilla didn’t respond for a moment or two but soon after she brought her hands up around Laura’s back and leaned her forehead against her shoulder.

 “…Carm?”

 “Hmm?” Not moving from their embrace.

 "Could you help me go over my notes?” Carmilla chucked slightly, pulled away and nodded.

*

 By the end of lunch Carmilla had told Laura she was confident she would do well on the written exam.

 “You know a lot of it already, it’s just getting it all down on the page. I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

 “And the practical?”

 “Well your CPR is good but your recovery could use some work.” She responded. “We can go over it this afternoon if it’ll make you feel better, Cupcake?”

*

 It was the end of the day and Laura was sat at her desk reading over the instructions she had written down for the recovery position. She was finding it difficult to memorize, there was always an aspect she forgot.

 She tore the correct page of notes out of her notebook and folded it up in her back pocket. At least then if she didn’t remember she could check.

 “Okay, do you remember the recovery position at all, Cupcake?” Camilla asked as she approached. 

 She nodded, “I think I’ve got most of it”

 “Good - let’s go over it now. We’ll do it exactly as you will do it tomorrow in the exam, I’m not going to say a word.” She smirked and imitated zipping her mouth closed.

 Carmilla lay down on the floor.

 Laura followed what little of the training she could remember.

 She approached Carmilla and looked down at her. She took a deep breath before she began.

 “Initially, I would make sure the area was safe.” Laura said and Carmilla gave her an encouraging nod but said nothing.

 Laura kneeled down next to her. She leaned across and gripped both of Carmilla’s shoulders. Their eyes met and Laura smiled at her.

 “So, um, this next part is where I would try to arouse you.”

 Carmilla’s eyebrows shot up. Laura gasped at her own misconstrued words.

 “No, that’s…no. Not _that_ kind of arouse. I meant arouse as in awaken or… stir?” She stammered.

 Carmilla was laughing silently - greatly amused by Laura’s choice of words.

 Laura felt very flustered and took a breath. She tried to run over the training again in her head but her mind couldn’t get past the rampant embarrassment she was feeling.

 She reached into her back pocket and unfolded her notes. Starting to read them over quickly.

 “What the frilly hell is this? No notes! Test conditions, Cupcake.” Carmilla plucked the paper from Laura’s hand and held it above her head across the floor.

 “Hey! Carm I just need one last…” Laura reached across Carmilla to make a grab at the notes.

 “No.” Carmilla moved the page to her other hand and held it away on the opposite side of her body from Laura.

 She made a grab for the notes again having to almost straddle Carmilla in the process.

 She looked down at Carm’s face. She was smirking at her, that irresistible, arrogant smirk that irritated Laura. She then glanced up and around searching for the page again.

 Carmilla had stretched her arms up above her head.

 “Carm, this isn’t real... just let me see the damn notes!” Laura gave one last-ditch effort to claim back the page, throwing both of her arms up and grabbing at Carms wrist and the page, which was also still clutched tightly in Carmilla’s grasp.

 As Laura’s arms were no longer supporting her weight she had collapsed entirely on top of her, their bodies conforming to each other.

 Laura met her gaze; the tips of their noses brushed each other.

 “ _You’ll tear it. Let go_ ,” Laura insisted, taking in a ragged breath.

 Carmilla shook her head and grazed her nose across Laura’s cheek, trailing along her jaw and then to her neck where she felt her lips at her ear. Laura was panting, still clutching at the paper tightly, refusing to give in.

 She heard Carmilla suck in a breath before she spoke huskily.

 “ _Make me_ ,” then harshly bit down on Laura’s earlobe and sucked it into her mouth.

The dam broke and a pang of arousal shot straight through her. A loud moan tore from Laura’s throat as her hips thrust forward hard against Carmilla’s thigh of their own accord.

 She whined at the sensation and then Carmilla’s lips began to suck at Laura’s throat, which caused her to shudder and gasp for breath.

Laura wanted to give her a taste of her own medicine, her face dropping down to Carmilla’s neck where she started leaving a trail of kisses up her throat from her shoulder, sucking harshly in places.

 She reached a spot just below Carm’s ear where she sucked and then bite down. Carm faltered in her ministrations, taking a rasping breath, her head dropping back against the floor.

 “Cupc-” Laura bit down again, Carmilla shivered and a pleasant sounding whimper escaped her mouth.

 “Lau…don’t…” she whispered desperately, taking panting breaths. She tried to pull her arms down but Laura was still grasping both of her hands.

 “Don’t what?” Laura asked between kisses, her mouth reaching a spot behind Carm’s ear. “Do this?” She teased, biting and licking the skin there.

 “Uh, Fuck!” Carm’s hips rotated up, grinding against Laura’s. She yanked her arms down and out of Laura’s grasp, the notes long forgotten. She grabbed at Laura’s waist and then slid them down to her ass as they lewdly rocked against each other.

 “I told you not to do that.” Laura felt off balance and then her back hit the floor, Carmilla had switched their positions. Laura’s hands grasped her head and then Laura’s mouth hurtled straight for Carmilla’s and their lips met in a heated kiss.

 Laura whined and Carmilla’s hips continued their ministrations, it was a delicious torture, the ache between her legs was overwhelming. Carmilla’s tongue entered her mouth and Laura’s hands gripped tightly at the waist of Carm’s shirt trying to tug her impossibly closer. Laura had to pull away to take a ragged breath and tugged harder on her shirt, she wanted it gone. She wanted to tear it off. She moaned in frustration but then Carmilla forced a thigh between her legs and she forgot about the ugly green shirt.

 Their hips were rocking in sync now – a desperate pressure building and Laura grasped at Carmilla’s hips when she was relentlessly hitting that sweet spot at her center. Their lips separated again and Carmilla’s face dropped down to Laura’s neck nipping at her throat and Laura’s hand tugged on her hair.

 “Carm...don’t stop…” Laura groaned. If anything that made Carmilla all the more urgent, hips pushing harder and faster.

She heard a growl like sound coming from Carm, Laura opened her eyes to get a look at her but the classroom appeared to be in darkness.

What the-? Laura stilled, trying to get her eyes to focus. Carm lifted her head from up from her neck and looked up at her in confusion and then to the side.

 “Oh shit... Cupcake we better go.” She said, not moving for a moment before forcing herself up with a sigh away from Laura who lay still on the floor, dazed and breathing hard.

 “Carm, what’s happening?” she asked concerned, sitting up slightly and then Carm grabbed her hand and pulled her up to her feet.

 “It's late, we gotta leave before the place gets locked up.” Carm said to her. Laura noted that Carmilla’s cheeks were flushed and her hair was lusciously unkempt. It was very distracting, she wanted to be kissing her again.

 Laura fixed her clothes as Carmilla ran her hands through her hair and went for her belongings, Laura did the same.

 “Well…we were both a little distracted.” Laura grinned over at her.

 Carmilla hummed as she pulled on her jacket. ”Quite right.”

 They both headed for the exit.

 “Study your notes tonight, I think you’ll pass the written no problem.”

 “And the practical?” Laura enquired as they walked together down the corridor.

 “Needs a little work.” She smiled, repeating herself from earlier.

 “Hey, that’s not my fault, I stayed behind to study for this.”

 “Cupcake, you were studying for the _wrong_ kind of practical.”


	6. With Flying Colors

Laura was sat in her car outside the training building, an overwhelming feeling of sadness had settled in her stomach. Today was the last day of the course. Today would be the last time she would walk into the classroom and Carmilla would tease her. Today would be the last day that she could sit at her desk and just gawk at Carmilla. The last day they would eat lunch together.

 What if Carm regrets what happened last night? Oh god, what if she doesn’t even acknowledge that it happened at all? On top of all that she had these stupid exams to worry about.

 Laura took a deep breath, released it, strengthened her resolve and opened the car door, ready to face the day.

 A motorcycle came around the corner and parked as Laura closed her car door. It’s her, should she go over?

 She watched Carmilla as she climbed down from her bike. Oh god, she’s wearing the leather pants! She turned to face Laura unzipped the front of her jacket, pulled the helmet off her head and began waving her hair around like some beautiful goddess, Laura was utterly enthralled by her.

 She smiled at Laura when she spotted her and beckoned her over with a finger. When she reached her, neither of them spoke but gazed at each other, smiling.

 “Did you study, Cupcake?” Carmilla asked after a moment.

 “Yes, I _think_ I’ve got it all.” She said, tapping her temple questionably

 Carmilla touched Laura’s arm leading her towards the building.

 Inside, Carmilla greeted the little lady at the desk by name and they exchanged pleasantries. Laura just stood there, she wasn’t sure whether to walk on, just as she had made up her mind to walk away Carm tugged on her arm again and they walked together down the hall, her hand falling to bottom of Laura’s back.

 “How are you this morning, Carm?”

 “Little tired actually, had some squicky dreams last night.” She smirked, repeating what Laura has said to her previously.

 Laura’s eyes widened, she stared down at the floor. Was she hinting that she had been dreaming about her?

 Carmilla held the door open for Laura when they entered the classroom; they gazed at each other again.

 Laura’s eyes travelled from Carmilla’s eyes, to her mouth, that perfect jawli…oh god! Laura could just make out a dark bruise on Carmilla’s neck. Laura gulped, that must have been from their… studying.

 She’d stare at that all day. _Great, not distracting at all!_

 “I’m just going to… go sit down now.” Pointing at her desk as if Carmilla didn’t know where she sat.

 She backed away from her and turned for her desk, walking straight into someone.

 “Hey Laura.” It was Kirsch.

 “Oh, hey Kirsch.”

 He glanced over at Carmilla and then back down at her. “Arrived together huh?” wriggling his eyebrows.

 Laura nodded “Yes.”

 He smiled and gave her a congratulatory tap on the arm. “Nice one Laura, she’s hot.”

 Huh? Oh, no.

 “Kirsch no it’s not… we _arrived_ together but we didn’t _come_ together.” Laura blushed.

 Kirsch beamed at her and laughed silently, his muscular shoulders shaking.

 “Oh, so you both came separately?”

 “Yes?” Laura was confused, wasn’t that what she had just said?

 Kirsch laughed again as Danny joined them.

 “How’s it going guys?” she asked.

 “D-bear did you know Carm and the Little Nerd Hottie here arrived _together_ this morning?”

 “What?” Danny questioned, her expression displeased.

 “Kirsch! No, it’s not even li…”

 “If everyone will please take their seats so we can get on with this written exam.” Carmilla called to the group.

 Laura wanted to explain to Danny but when she turned to address her she was already taking her seat.

 “Just so alls fair, I’m going to have you all pick a number out of my hand and that’s the order everyone will go in for practical exam.” Carmilla held her hand up. She strolled past every desk and each person took a scrap of paper from her palm. Laura unraveled her piece.

 Oh great. Number 13, she was last! Of course she would be last, that would give her just enough time to sit and worry about it so much that when her turn finally arrived she wouldn’t be able to do it at all!

 She frowned as members of the class began to converse about their own lucky numbers.

 “What number did you get, Cupcake?” She didn’t speak she just revealed her paper.

 “Ooh, unlucky.” Carmilla smirked, chuckling at Laura’s frowny face.

*

She had just closed her paper, confident in her answers. She looked at Carmilla who was reading at her desk. Laura got up and strolled over with her paper. She looked up when she approached, sat up and took the paper from Laura.

 “Thank you Miss Hollis.”

 She returned to her seat and watched Carmilla as she started to flick through it. She turned a page, peering at it. She then looked at Laura with a troubled expression on her face.

 Oh no! Had she done something wrong?!

 Carmilla started to smile and then moved to cover her face with the paper. Laura could see her shoulders moving up and down with silent laughter. Relief flooded through her.

 When Carmilla looked up at her again, Laura frowned and shook her head to signify her annoyance at Carmilla’s teasing.

*

Laura was sitting on the floor in the corridor outside the classroom, along with a few of her classmates. She’d have a while to wait before her turn came for the practical exam. For now she would just have to sit and wait.

 Laura watched as person after person came out of the classroom, some looking relieved, others looking worried.

 “Kirsch! How did it go?” Laura enquired as he pulled the classroom door closed behind him.

 “All good, Little Hottie! I’m _so_ ready to save some lives!” He flexed his muscles and took up a superhero stance.

 “That’s great, Kirsch!”

 No offense to Kirsch but if he could pass this then she could, Laura thought.

 “See ya later Laura!” Kirsch called as he marched off down the corridor.

 Laura returned to her position on the floor.

 “Danny!” Laura called out when she spotted her leaving.

 Oh crap, she looked angry. “Your girlfriend almost failed me.”

 “What? Why?” Laura asked. “And Carm’s not my girlfriend…I don’t think.”

 “She said I was _too slow_ during the CPR.”

 “But you passed, right?”

 “Barely, she was just really harsh.” Danny complained.

 Laura sat down again once Danny had disappeared. Carmilla was harsh? I hope she’s not going to be harsh with me…

 Laura grabbed her notes. Best to be safe than sorry, she started looking them over.

 Okay, the recovery position. Response, airway, breathing, Laura repeated this to herself over and over.

 Response, airway, breathing. Response, airway, breathing. Response, airw… Carmilla’s ragged breathing in her ear… her perfect lips as they sucked on her throat… her hands sliding along the fabric of Carm’s pants…Carm’s hands grasping her hips tightly as they…

 “…Laura!”

 Huh?

 Laura sat up straight, “Um…here! What?…Yes?”

 “Cupcake, it’s your turn.” Carmilla was standing in the doorway of the classroom. She looked both confused and amused.

 “Yes, sorry, I just got a little caught up with my… studying.” Laura shook her head, yeah that sounded genuine.

 She entered the classroom.

 “Okay, are you ready?” Carmilla asked.

 Laura nodded.

 “We’ll start with the CPR and then we’ll do the recovery, Cupcake.”

 Laura performed CPR on the practice dummy until Carmilla asked her to stop.

 “That was good, nice work.”

 "Phew! Kinda tired now," Laura huffed out a breath and started stretching her shoulders out as she stood.

 Carmilla chuckled, "Yeah? Imagine keeping it up for 45 minutes." 

 "Oh, have you _done_ _that_?" Laura enquired.

 "Afghanistan, a truck went over an IED. Took 45 minutes for back up to arrive.” Her face was expressionless; she looked deep in thought for a moment.

 "Longest I heard anyone go for was 3 and half hours. Casualty survived too, with no complications." She added. "Although, Will once told me a story where someone performed CPR for 5 hours but I never really believed a word he said."

 "Who's Will?" Laura asked

 Carmilla smiled, "A brother-in-arms, you might say." She paused for a moment before she clapped her hands together and said, "Cupcake, let's get on with it, I wanna get out of here at some point today."

 Laura nodded and Carmilla sat down on the floor.

 "You got this, don't worry." She reassured Laura and then leaned back to the floor.

 Okay, Laura thought, the only way you're going to get through this is if you just don't think about whom it is you're going to be running your hands all over.

 Pretend she's Kirsch! Laura grimaced, Kirsch in Carm’s leather pants? No thanks, she mused.

 She went over the first few steps of the recovery position with Carmilla giving her encouraging nods every now and then. Laura spoke through the steps out loud but Carmilla remained silent.

Okay, now for the head to toe examination. Laura leaned over her and gripped the sides of Carmilla's head.

Oh boy, her hair is so soft, Laura wanted to run her fingers through it.

 Their eyes met, her gaze captivated Laura. Would she still pass if they made out for a little while? 

 Carmilla was smirking at her lustily, almost spurring on her on. Go on, do it.

 Nope! Look away, don't look at her face! She's an enchantress; she's using her magical powers of seduction and charm to lure you in! 

Laura looked away and she didn't look at Carmilla's face again until she was pulling her over onto her side, lifting her chin and completing the recovery position.

 Laura sat back on her heels. "Not so hard is it, huh?" Carmilla said. 

 "Nope. All done!" She looked at Carmilla and then down at her hands, which were now wringing together a nervous mannerism.

 Laura stood up and then offered her hand. Carmilla took it and Laura helped her to her feet. 

 She did not let go of Laura's hand and she was stood considerably close.

 "Well Cupcake, looks like you're now a qualified first aider."

 “So, I passed?” Laura asked, smiling.

Carmilla was looking at her intently, "You can go... try out your new skills." she whispered, her eyes were dark. She watched as Carmilla’s tongue ran along her bottom lip and Laura found herself taking a step closer.

 "Yep... suppose I can." Laura could hardly remember what Carmilla had just said.

Carmilla's thumb ran along the back of her fingers and Laura glanced down at their joined hands and pulled away slightly, running a hand through her hair.

"So that's it! We did it." She said with more enthusiasm than she felt.

 Carmilla didn’t even look like she listening at all, she was staring at Laura.

 They were both silent for moment. 

 "Yep...and without any… desperate kissing or lusty sexual undertones." Laura muttered. The tension in the room felt like a weight crushing her. 

 "Oh, crap." They both lurched forward at the same time, their mouths meeting in a frantic kiss. 

 Laura's hands came up gripping at Carmilla's hair tightly, pulling at it. This caused Carmilla to make a rather pleasurable sound, spurring Laura on.

 When they broke apart, Laura brought her lips down to Carmilla's neck, sucking at her throat earnestly.

Carmilla clutched Laura's shirt, pulling them flush together. She then changed tact and started pushing her away. Laura stumbled back, but Carmilla surged forward, their lips connected again and Carmilla's hands landed on her hips as the back of Laura's thigh touched her desk and she pushed her on top of it, leaning down onto her. Laura's legs clamping around Carmilla tightly and Laura moaned as an overwhelming feeling of arousal hit her.

 There lips separated. "Lau..."

 Laura forced Carmilla's mouth back down to hers. She wasn't done kissing her yet, Carmilla smiled.

 "Laura, did you wa.." but she stopped again, Carmilla's lips landed on her throat and moved up towards her ear. Carmilla took a harsh breath then spoke into Laura's ear.

 "Do you wanna go?" She said breathily.

 Laura hummed and nodded enthusiastically, they kissed again, Carmilla started to move away but Laura's lips followed her as she went. 

 "La-ga-bur-ths." Carmilla tried to speak around Laura's kiss. Why was Carmilla trying to speak right now, there was no time for talking.

 Laura pulled away by half an inch.

 "Huh?"

 "Go grabs your things." Carm urged her, contradicting herself as she pulled Laura in for yet another desperate kiss. 

 "Laura, your things." She insisted after a few more moments.

 "Yes, going now." Neither of them moved - just more desperate kissing.

 Carmilla lurched away; she took a step back and held Laura by the shoulders at arms length. She took a deep breath, "Go, we need to go."

 They both began to speedily collect their things, Carm pulling her jacket on grabbing her helmet and heading for the door.

 Out in the hall Carmilla dropped her helmet and pushed Laura up against the wall frenziedly, the assault began again. 

 Laura moaned, "Carm… we're never going to get anywhere if you don't stop kissing me like that."

 "You're one to talk, Cupcake." Carm leered, leaning in for one last kiss before pulling away and grabbing Laura's hand, leading them out of the building. 

 "How are we-let's just take my car." Laura insisted and Carm followed.

* 

They arrived at Laura’s apartment. Laura wasn’t sure how they had survived the journey with Carmilla’s hands all over her and her lips on her throat.

 “Hold on a sec, Cupcake, how can you be late _everyday_ when you live so close?” She asked as Laura was unlocking her door.

 “ _Hey_ , I wasn’t late _everyday_!” Laura retaliated.

 Carmilla closed the door behind her as they entered the apartment. She stood awkwardly in the doorway, glancing around as Laura took off her coat and shoes so she did the same.

 Then she walked up behind Laura and they turned to face each other.

 Laura felt nervousness rising in her chest all of a sudden. “…So, did you want me to inspect for any dangers or check to see if you’re breathing?” Laura anxiously teased her.

 “ _Fuck that_.” Carmilla smirked, pulling Laura in for a kiss as she laughed.

 Laura urged them toward the couch and they fell onto it in a heap. Laura sucking on Carmilla's throat while she squirmed around underneath her, grasping at Laura's head. Carmilla’s reaction to this had quickly become one of Laura's favorite things. 

 Carm pulled her in for another kiss, her hands unwilling to stay in one place, in her hair, gripping her waist, the back of her thigh or pulling at her shirt.

 Laura's hands ran down Carms waist lightly, she chuckled and wriggled.

 Laura gasped, "Carm, are you ticklish?" She grinned, repeating the motion with her hands. Carmilla gave a smallish yelp and made a grab for Laura's hands but she wasn't to be stopped.

 "Laura..." she giggled "No!" She squirmed around on the couch as Laura continued to attack her.

 Laura let out a  _hmpf_  as her back hit the floor. "Owww Carm." She groaned, she could just make out Carmilla’s flawless face above hers.

 Laura tried to continue her ministrations from her new position on the floor but Carmilla was having none of it this time. The advantage of being on top, grabbing both of Laura's hands and roughly jostling her leather clad thigh between Laura's legs.

 "Oh, Ca-" she moaned out, her body lurching then going slack.

 "I win."  Carm smirked down at her.

 "Cheat."  Laura gasped out, as she rolled her hips against Carmilla’s thigh, pulling her mouth down to hers. Laura’s hands started pulling at Carm’s shirt, wanting it gone.

 "Please remove this ugly green shirt, Carm." Laura said between kisses.

 She chuckled, then sitting up and pulling the shirt off her body, revealing her toned form to Laura who could do nothing but gaze at her in only her bra and leather pants.

 Her eyes spotting a jagged scar running about two inches along on Carms waist.

She reached her hand up, her finger tracing the line of it, causing a shudder to run through Carmilla.

 "What happened?" Laura whispered, looking sad.

 "It was metal debris..."

 "Is that from..."

 "Yes." She said quietly.

 Laura pulled her forward, reaching with her head to kiss along the scar and then moving higher, wrapping for arms around her and pulling her down on top of her until their lips touched. Carmilla hummed in pleasure, their hips started to move once more.

 Laura's hands lightly scratching up Carmilla's back and then coming around to massage her breasts through her bra.

 Both of their breathing becoming quite ragged the more heated they became.

"Carm..." Laura tried to take a few deep breaths.

"Bedroom." She finished.

Carm just hummed, moving to suck on Laura's throat, her hands reaching the bottom of Laura's shirt and tugging upwards.

"Bedroom." She repeated, trying to sit up but Carm was pressing her back down to the floor.

“Carm!” Laura panted.

She paused then huffed in frustration and moved to sit up, pulling Laura along with her.

Laura started to stagger in the direction of her bedroom with Carmilla trailing close behind tugging on her shirt, still trying remove it. Laura reached down and pulled her shirt off, dropping it on the floor as they reached the threshold of her bedroom.

“Carm, I can’t bel-”

“Shhhh” Carmilla pulled her in for a searing kiss as they fell onto her bed.

Carm's hands couldn't hold out long, going straight for Laura's breasts, her lips slipping down her throat to her collarbones and lower. Her hands reaching around her for the clasp of her bra, pulling it off her arms.

Bringing her mouth down to Laura's chest, not immediately attending to the place she wanted most. Kissing and sucking at the underside of her breast before Laura’s hands began grasping at her hair, guiding her mouth. Bringing her lips to her nipple and lapping her tongue against it. An obscene sounding whimper escaped Laura's lips and her hands grasped Carmilla’s hair tightly. Her hips rocking searching for friction against Carmilla’s abdomen.

She dipped lower exploring Laura's stomach while her hands started towards the button on her jeans, pulling them down and off her legs. 

When their lips met again, Laura attempted to turn them but Carmilla put her arm down blocking her from doing so.

"No." she murmured against Laura's mouth. 

Laura gave a small giggle before diving for Carmilla’s throat, knowing the affect it would have, she began to shiver and growl at the sensation. 

“Holy fu-“ Carmilla moaned.

Laura gripped at the leather of Carms pants, almost feeling sorrow, not wanting her to remove them but pulling at the button languidly before it opened and she began to push them down before Carm took over.

Laura grabbed her waist and pulled her down, kissing Carmilla’s breasts.

Laura tried once more to top Carmilla but her arm came down blocking her again.

“No, “ rasped Carmilla. “Not happening, Laura.”

“Carm…” Laura was going to say more but Carmilla’s lips met hers and she gave up trying to speak when she started to move her hips again.

Carmilla lay kisses down Laura’s body, sucking on her hip bone while Laura writhed below her. She started moving her hips up against Carmilla’s face eagerly.  

“Impatient….” Carmilla murmured with a smile.

“Please Carm…” She whimpered, starting to pull her own panties off when Carmilla’s hands stopped her and took over, kissing along her inner thigh excruciatingly slowly.

“Oh g-Carm! Please!” Laura whined, her hips shifting around relentlessly.

Carmilla chuckled, wasting no more time, bringing her fingers to Laura’s folds and rubbing at her clit soon to be replaced by her tongue as she began lapping and sucking at Laura’s swollen clit. Laura moaned obscenely, she had never made a sound like that before. She thought maybe she should feel embarrassed but all she could feel right now was a delightful kind of agony.

Carm’s face nuzzled into her center, she hummed intensely causing Laura’s hips to shoot up, her to hands grasped tightly at the sheets below her.

Uncontrollable sounds left her mouth as Carmilla’s fingers rubbed at her wet slit and then entered her hastily.

“Fuck!” The fingers began forcively moving in and out, Laura’s hips were rutting against her face in desperation.

Carm chuckled and abruptly ceased all movement. Laura panted and moaned, “Carm, don’t you dare!” Looking down at her frantically, a burst of laughter came from Carmilla, her fingers wriggling a little inside her, mischievously.

“Don’t torture me, I’ll give as good as I get.” Laura whined, her hips writhing.

“Oh, I hope so.” Carmilla replied steadily, just before her fingers began to move again with eagerness. She laughed as Laura’s head fell back against the pillow in defeat, drawing in fast breaths.

Carmilla continued her ministrations watching as Laura’s hips began to falter and move with more desperation. Laura let out a low moan as Carm’s fingers rubbed her in just the right place. Her back bowing, on the precipice of exquisite pleasure.

“Carm please!” Carmilla smiled against her clit and then nibbled at it a little.

Pleasure erupted from within her, Laura quivered uncontrollably. Moaning out a series of unintelligible sounds. Her hips rutting hard against Carmilla’s face as the pleasure radiating through her refused to tire. Carm was unrelenting until Laura’s grip on the sheets seemed to lessen and she took a deep breath.

“Cupcake…” Carmilla smiled as she moved up Laura’s body, kissing along her throat.

Laura kissed her, her hands going straight for Carmilla’s underwear. Her fingers slipping through Carmilla’s wetness, rubbing against her clit, she hummed and shivered as Laura started to suck at her throat and her hand gripped tightly at the back of Laura’s head as she moaned softly above her. 

Laura’s fingers entered her and Carmilla’s hips started of move with the rhythm of her thrusts. Laura smiled, remembering Carmilla’s playful behavior and decided to take her revenge.

She stilled her fingers inside her and a growl like sound came from Carmilla, those face was hidden in the crook of Laura’s neck. She then felt Carmilla’s thigh move to rub against her sensitive center, she groaned and shuddered, ultimately giving in to her and picking up the pace again. Camilla lips turn up against her throat.

“I’ll get my revenge, Carm.” Laura said, trying to sound menacing. 

Carmilla moaned at that and moved to kiss her, her hips moving a little more frenziedly against Laura’s hand.

The next thing Laura new - Carmilla was moaning gutturally and her hips were jerking against her in a desperately helpless way. She felt Carmilla’s intense shiver and her hips jerked hard again as she moaned what sounded like Laura's name.

Then everything was still, except for the ragged breaths coming from both of them. Laura’s body started to lull and relax, her eyelids felt heavy.

Laura felt Carmilla’s head begin to rise up from its perfect fit in the crook of her neck. She shifted around, feebly pushed her top half up supported on her elbows. She looked down at Laura’s face with a smile. She was all flushed and so beautiful, Laura thought.

Carmilla seemed to give up and just drop her face back into Laura’s neck and nuzzle her with a purr.

Laura ran a hand through her hair, “So, Carm… did I pass the practical?” She joked.

She felt Carmilla’s small laugh, “With flying colors, Cupcake.” She mumbled in exhaustion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took me sooo long to write that I started writing a completely new story because I was finding this so difficult. Look forward to my Carmilla/Harry potter AU coming soon...maybe later i dunno yet.


	7. Life So Changed

Laura awoke feeling rather content; Carmilla was here, here in her apartment… in her bed! Laura turned to gaze at her as she slept, this seemed almost surreal. How could she already be so attached to someone she’d only known for four days? She pushed that thought from her mind, leaning over and placing light kisses all over Carmilla’s face. A frown appeared on her face and Laura giggled silently, moving down her jaw.

Carmilla murmured unintelligibly and smiled before she jumped in panic and grabbed at Laura's waist, looking very distressed.

 When she saw Laura looking down at her, panic left her eyes and her expression changed to relief.

 "Laura... you startled me." She said sleepily, sighing and pulling her in close for a hug.

 "What time is it?" She asked.

 "7.15." Laura mumbled against her shoulder.

 Carmilla pulled back from their embrace looking appalled. "Cupcake, this is one of the only days I get to sleep in!" Mocking annoyance as she flipped their positions so she could hide her face in Laura's shoulder.

 They were both quiet for a time; Laura ran her hands through Carmilla's hair as she lay still on top of her.

 Laura thought she had gone back to sleep but then Carmilla spoke again, she sounded thoughtful. “I think I will miss you when I have to teach a new class on Monday." Her face still hidden in the crook of Laura’s neck as she spoke into her ear.

 Laura felt her heart swell; she pulled Carmilla's head up from her neck and kissed her. She hummed in approval, kissing her back and running her hands down Laura’s body. When they broke apart to look at each other, Carmilla spoke again.

 "Tell you who I won't miss though." She sneered, "…Lawrence."

 Laura shook her head, confused, "Who _Danny_? Why?"

 "I would have failed her but then I thought she might retake the course and I'd rather she not."

 "What I don’t - What’s _with_ you two?" Laura grilled.

 "She _very clearly_ disliked me. She's got a thing for you, Laura." Carmilla smirked down at her.

 Whaaaaa? 

"Carm, Danny Lawrence does not have a _thing_ for _me_." Laura stated unbelievingly, almost laughing at the notion.

 Carmilla looked at her skeptically, "Did you _see_ her face when you helped me out with that choking demonstration the other day? It was _hilarious_ ,” Carmilla chuckled.

 "Oh." Laura smiled; wow she’d had no idea. "I didn’t realize... maybe I’ll just give her a call right now." Laura teased, starting to lean over toward the bedside table as if for her phone.

 "No!" Carmilla grumbled, holding her tightly and pushing her face back into her neck as Laura giggled.

*

 "Okay, what you do want I've got cocoa, coff-"

 "Coffee, Cupcake." Carmilla interrupted. She sat down at Laura's kitchen island. She was wearing a black t-shirt borrowed from Laura. She had offered her a number of other shirts but Carmilla wasn’t interested in her array of animal ones. Yes, she had a lot of shirts with animals on but they were cute and sh-

 Laura felt arms wrapping around her, hugging her tightly.

 "Let me help you…”

 "That's not really _helping_ , Carm." Laura said, smiling coyly.

 She chuckled, "Okay… what would you like me to do?"

 "In the cupboard - bowls." Laura gestured ambiguously. Carmilla then began blindly opening cupboards, not knowing where find anything.

 "Woah! Laura, what is this? It's even better than mine!" Carmilla smirked holding up a heavy-duty looking first aid kit.

 "Ahh yes… Only child of a _massively_ over protective dad here." She said comically raising her hand. "That's the _small_ first aid kit." 

 "Oh yeah?" Carmilla asked, genuinely interested as Laura handed her a cup and they both sat down at the counter.

 "Yep. That's nothing, have you seen my day of the week bear spray collection?" Carmilla chuckled at her.

 "I like the sound of your dad." She responded.

 "Oh, he's great… it's just… he can be a little _too much_ sometimes." Laura smiled with a shake of her head as she thought of her father.

 “That’s good though isn’t it? He cares about you.” Carmilla conjectured, taking a sip of her coffee.

 Laura considered that for a second, "I'll have to tell you about the time he made me wear a biohazard suit for a week... _to school_.” Carmilla laughed and rolled her eyes.

 “Oh, that _soo_ did not happen.” Carmilla said, unbelieving.

 “It did unfortunately… I had _no_ friends, let’s put it that way.” Laura said

 "And your Mom?" Carmilla enquired.

 "Oh, my mom died when I was four.” Laura said reminiscently. “She had a brain tumor." 

 Carmilla frowned, "Laura, I'm _so sorry_ I didn't mean to..."

 "Hey no!” Laura said, reaching out and grasping Carmilla’s hand. “I hardly even remember her now, Carm. It's fine, honestly." Laura reassured her.

 "I do think it's kinda part of the reason why my dad is so protective of me though... he sees my mother in me." Laura was silent for moment, looking down at her cocoa.

 "Well anyway, right shall we have breakfast?... Chokoa Crunch?"

 Carmilla grimaced, "Cupcake, do you have anything decent for breakfast?”

 Laura was outraged.

*

 After breakfast they had curled up together on the couch; Laura was lying on Carmilla's chest drifting in and out of consciousness. She had initially intended to switch the TV on but neither of them had moved since they had lay down. She glanced up at Carm, she had her head propped up on the arm of the chair staring thoughtfully out of the window, her eyebrows furrowed.

 Oh no, she looks broody, Laura thought.

 “Hey, what is it? Snap out of it, Carm.” Laura jokingly punched her shoulder.

 “Oww! Cupcake! Warn me if you want to play rough.” She smirked at her.

 Laura sighed and rubbed Carm’s shoulder as way of an apology, “Come on Carm, weren’t you some badass solider or something?”

 Carmilla rolled her eyes and said nothing, her hands running up and down Laura’s back as she looked back to the window.

 “Why?” Laura asked curiously.

 “Why, what?”

 “Why, the military?”

 Carmilla frowned, “…It’s kind of a long story.”

 “Well, I wanna know…” Laura shrugged, resting her chin on Carmilla’s chest.

 Carmilla met her eyes and seemed to be considering something.

 “Well buckle up, Creampuff.” She joked but appeared solemn.

 She deliberated for a long moment before she started to speak.

 “Will wasn’t just a _brother-in-arms_ like I said _…_ he was actually my younger brother and my best friend. Now, William had wanted to sign on since he was a kid, a solider was the only thing he ever wanted to be, he signed up when he turned 17.” Carmilla took a deep breath.

 “ _I_ was working as a paramedic at the time, going through some shit, a bad break up, a disapproving mother, amongst other things…I desperately wanted a change so I ended up signing on with him.” She paused for a moment, thinking. “Luckily, we pretty much stayed together for most part, which was good.”

 “That was in ’09… two and half years later. Afghanistan, we were shipped out.. I, a combat medic and Will was primarily a radio op.”

 “We were sent on a fairly routine pick up – 2 injured I think…”

 “And well… you kind of know what happened next, Cupcake.” Carmilla met her eyes then.

 Laura was initially confused but Carmilla moved her hand to trace the scar covered by her shirt at her waist.

 “The _IED_?” Laura asked in disbelief.

 Carmilla only nodded.

 Laura gasped, “ _It was Will_ …It was your _brother_ that you performed the CPR on?” Laura asked, filling with dread.

 Carmilla said nothing, just turned her head to face the window again. Laura wanted to ask something more but she didn’t know how exactly to phrase the question.

 “Carm, is he…” She couldn’t bring herself to finish.

 “He's dead, he didn't make it. The injuries he sustained were too great.” Carmilla said quickly.

 Laura wasn’t sure how to respond, “Car-”

 Carmilla interrupted, “And I was sent home not long after that.” She said sadly.

 “After a couple months, I was pretty much forced to go the VA for therapy and then I was asked if I would consider teaching. That's how I landed this gig.” Carmilla said dejectedly.

 “I’m _so_ sorry, Carm.” Laura said woefully, shaking her head.

 Carmilla just smiled meekly, “I’m okay Laura, I’m doing fine now.”

 They were both silent for a moment, “Thank you... for telling me I mean.” Laura said supportively, stretching up to press a kiss to Carmilla’s cheek. 

*

 “He need’s to be careful, he obviously has no clue what he’s doing.” Carmilla said staring at the TV with a raised eyebrow. They had started watching a movie together as the afternoon drew on.

 “Shhhh” Laura whispered, entirely absorbed in the plot, shoveling chips into her mouth, watching as a man on screen struggled to light a fire with sticks and subsequently cut his hand open.

 “Knew it! I told him, he didn’t listen.” Carm spoke again.

 “Carm, shhh!” Laura said mildly irritated.

 “How would you bandage that, Cupcake?” Carmilla tested her, bumping their shoulders to try and gain her attention.

 “…I dunno.” Laura shrugged, uncaring.

 “ _Hey_ , did I not teach you anything?” Carmilla mocked disappointment.

 Laura looked at her then, “Yes, but the course is over, I don’t _have_ to think about that now.”

 Carmilla rolled her eyes and shook her head, “I’m your teacher, I might change my mind and fail you.” She smirked.

 “My _teacher_ …?” Laura said, seemingly more interested now. “Well this is a bit inappropriate then, isn’t it?” Laura teased, gesturing between the two of them. Carmilla just smiled and leaned closer to her.

 “How very… _unprofessional_ of you, Miss Karnstein.” Laura grinned.

 “You’d better behave then, Miss Hollis or you’ll be in trouble.” Their lips almost meeting.

 “But I kinda _like_ the sound of that.” Laura hummed before she gave in, pulling Carmilla in for a kiss.

 *

 "Laura, I should go." Carmilla said from her prone position on the couch. Carmilla didn’t want to outstay her welcome. They had been living in their own tiny bubble, ignoring the rest of their lives.

 "What, why?" Laura asked in frustration even though she knew Carmilla would have to leave sooner or later. 

 "You know, stuff to do, I do have to prepare for work. New class to teach and all." Carmilla said in a defeated sounding tone.

 Laura nodded glumly. "Unfortunately, I've got a hell of a lot of work to do before Monday as well.” Laura groaned.

 They lay together in silence for a while, neither of them wanting to accept the fact Carmilla would have to leave eventually.

 "Okay, Cupcake I'm leaving." Carmilla said determinedly. Reaching for Laura's head and pulling her down for a kiss. Laura whimpered with surprise, thoroughly enjoying the surprise.

 The kiss deepened and Carmilla hummed as Laura's hands slipped under and groped at her stomach under her shirt. 

 Carmilla’s hands running down Laura's body to grip her behind and force their hips together. Laura moaned encouragingly as their hips began to move. Carm’s leg coming up to wrap around Laura's hip holding her in place. 

 They broke apart, their noses rubbing together and Laura giggled whist panting for breath, their hips still moving together. "I thought you were leaving?" She whispered.

 "...bit more." Carm replied huskily pulling Laura down again for a now desperate kiss. Somehow insinuating how much she actually wanted to stay. Carmilla’s hands sliding along Laura's back bringing her shirt up with it.

 Then Laura felt Carm’s fingers reach the waistband of her sweatpants, her hand slipping inside, neither of them thinking of leaving now.

*

 They were stood together at the door. Laura folded her arms, she was trying her best not to beg Carmilla to stay and she was scared she might make a grab for her at the last second. 

 Carmilla shrugged on her jacket slowly, looking at Laura longingly.

 "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you?" Laura asked.

 "Cupcake, you live 4 blocks away from where I work, why did you even bother driving everyday?"

 “I didn't wanna be late." Laura replied, Carmilla shook her head and laughed at Laura’s words.

 "When will I see you again?" She asked, tugging at Laura's waist, pulling her close. Laura's hands gave up their struggle to stay put and pulled Carmilla down for a kiss.

 Laura spoke, as they broke apart. "Um... maybe Thursday?" Laura said, looking weary as if she expected a negative response. 

 "What?! Why Thursday?" Carmilla huffed, seeming deflated.

 Laura whined, "Carm, I'm going to be really busy this week, the kids have exams coming up and I need to help them study…I'll make the wait worth your while..." Laura said suggestively, her fingers running along Carmilla's arm. 

 "Don't think you can distract me from the fact that I won't see you again until Thursday." Carmilla groaned in annoyance but she smiled.

 Laura took that as a challenge, "Really? There's really nothing I can...." her lips finding Carmilla's throat. 

 Laura found her back abruptly pushed against the door, a whimper leaving her mouth, aroused by Carmilla’s unexpected roughness. 

 "Carm!" Laura whimpered, laughing against her lips as she kissed her wildly.

 "You started it, Cupcake." Carmilla replied, kissing her again, before leaning her forehead on Laura's shoulder and taking a few breaths.

 Neither of them moved for a few moments and then Carmilla pulled back and they looked at each other.

 “I’ll see you soon.” Laura said, also trying to make herself feel better about the situation. Carmilla just nodded, leaning down and picking up her helmet from the floor as Laura turned around for the door.

 As Carmilla stepped out into the hall she turned around for one last glance at Laura who gave her a little wave and a smile before forcing herself to walk away.


	8. A Baptism Of Fire

Laura strolled into her classroom on Monday morning, it was the same as it always had been but Laura felt like she hadn’t been there in forever. Normality returned once classes began and Laura was back on track, teaching the familiar curriculum and seeing the regular faces.

Laura greeted LaFontaine in the staffroom at lunch, who was sitting at their usual table.

“Laura, where were you all weekend? You never showed up for drinks on Saturday.” They asked. “You never answered your phone. Perry wanted to make a surprise visit but Kirsch told us you might have been otherwise engaged?” They then smiled at her. “What’s going on?”

“I met someone.” Laura blushed, feeling stupid, LaF knew that already apparently.

“So, there _is_ something going on with you and this instructor of yours?” LaF smirked at her.

Laura shrugged it off, “Well…yeah.” She didn’t want to make a big deal out of it just now but she also couldn’t help herself.

Laura started talking fondly of Carmilla to LaFontaine as they ate, “…and oh my god, these leather pants that she was wearing, they shouldn’t be legal…”

Laura’s phone buzzed in her pocket and she paused knowing it would be a text from Carmilla.

Carm: _This class are bunch of lackwits! One of them just asked me how to spell bruise!_

Laura started to laugh, drawing LaFontaine’s attention from their sandwich to Laura and her phone.

“Who you texting? Is it her?” They asked intrigued, leaning slightly over trying to get a glance at the screen.

Laura just smiled and said nothing.

Voices from behind Laura made her look up. “Kirsch, he was fine! That kid did not need CPR - he was conscious!” She heard Danny yell as they entered the room.

“D-bear I’m pretty sure I saved his life.” Kirsch retorted.

 “No, you did more damage than good and don’t call me that!” Danny turned to Laura, “Laura, can we just make the decision now and not have Kirsch as a designated first aider, he’s taking this role far too seriously.”

“Um… that’s good though isn’t it?” Laura asked unsure as Danny sat down at the table with them. 

“Laura, where have you been? Did you even pass? You never texted me back.” Danny asked.

“Of course I passed.” Laura forced a laugh and then shoved half a sandwich in her mouth to avoid talking. She remembered what Carmilla had said about Danny and was now feeling a little awkward; even though she knew she had no reason to.

“Laura spent the weekend with her new… _friend_.” LaF divulged. Laura felt herself blush pink.

“Oh.” Danny said with a frown. “You were with Carmilla?” She asked as if she didn’t actually want to hear the answer.

Laura looked at both of them as she said, “Its not anyone’s business.” Smiling but obviously making it clear she didn’t want to discuss the topic further.

LaF chuckled and then changed the subject to their latest science experiment and everyone continued to eat. “…And them I’m going to plug the thing in and see what happens!” They said excitedly and Laura frowned.

“Be careful LaF, that sounds _dangerous_.” Laura warned, dropping her sandwich and grabbing her phone.

 

Laura: _Carm... you're not eating lunch with some floozy are you?_

Carm: _Haha Cupcake, I'm eating lunch at my desk alone. :/ You’re not just eating cookies for lunch are you?_

Laura: _No, I had a sandwich…after my cookies._

*

A few days past and Laura did not see Carmilla in that time at all; they were still on for Thursday night though. Laura kept reminding herself of that every time she thought about blowing off work or after school study classes to see Carmilla instead. Carm didn’t help at all; she was constantly trying to convince Laura to forget about work and cancel her study classes but she was just too busy this week. Laura had her students to focus on right now, they were her main priority.

On Wednesday afternoon, Laura’s class was working in silence; she glanced around the room, each head facing down, concentrating on their papers.

She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, most likely a text from Carmilla. She thought about the chances that she would be able to check it without anyone noticing. She couldn’t help herself and snapped up her phone a minute later. 

Carm: _You sound a little stressed…maybe I should come over tonight? ;)_

Laura smiled at her phone, she was about to start typing when a loud bang sounded from somewhere nearby, all heads looked up, one girl in the class let out a small scream in fright.

What in the name of skrillex was that? Laura thought, getting up from her desk.

“Don’t worry about that, guys, just continue with your…” She didn’t finish her sentence. She approached the classroom door, opening it and peaking out in the corridor.

It was deserted, she shrugged and almost went to close the door but a student came around the corridor, running at some speed.

“Miss Hollis! Miss Hollis! We need help!” He yelled when he spotted her. He slowed down, leaning his hands on his knees to breathe easier. 

“What? What is it?!” Laura asked suddenly feeling alarm.

“Professor LaF…something has happened to Professor LaF. I was sent for you.” The boy said quickly, “Miss, come on please!”

Laura eyes widened, oh no... This was not good.

She turned to face her class, “Keep working.” She said quickly before turning to follow the boy.

He broke out into a run once more, so Laura had to pick up the pace in order to keep up with him. She ran down the corridors towards LaFontaine’s Classroom. She was met by a science teacher at the door and 20 odd students lingering in the corridor in complete panic. 

“Oh thank god! We need help, LaFontaine appears has been electrocuted I beleieve, they’re not moving! I called for you right away.” The teacher said helplessly. 

“Me? Why me?!” Laura shouted as she glanced into the classroom; LaFontaine was lying on the floor, completely motionless.

Laura panicked at the sight; she hadn’t quite believed this was really happening until she saw them. “LaFontaine! LaF!” She shouted, running into the room.

“LAF!” She dropped down next to them – they were not responding. Laura shook their shoulders – no response.

Okay…you can do this Laura; she took a ragged breath and turned to face the door.

“I need someone to run down to PE and find Miss Lawrence or Mr Kirsch! Tell them I need them down here ASAP!” There was a flourish of movement in the corridor. 

She pointed at another girl by the door, “I need you to run down to the first aid room and get me a first aid kit and… I’m not sure…anything you can find that might help!” The girl scarpered.

She turned to the teacher, “Get everyone away from here and then go down to the office, tell them to call for an ambulance right away and then come back, okay?” She said quickly.

She turned back to LaF’s unconscious form.

“LaF can you hear me? It’s Laura.” Nothing, no response.

Laura pulled their chin up, opened LaF’s mouth. Glanced across their body for breath. She was immediately filled with fear, LaFontaine was not breathing.

Oh no, LaF! Laura began to shake, her eyes filled with tears. Why was this happening?!

“Okay…” Laura spoke out loud to herself, “Pull your self together Hollis.” She took a deep breath and started to think, what did she need to do? She knows this. Carmilla had taught her this.

“They’re not breathing so…I need to…” Laura squeezed her eyes shut. “CPR! I need to do CPR!”

She looked down at LaFontaine’s face, oh god, if anything happens to them, I’ll kill them. Laura thought before she placed her hands on LaF’s chest and commenced CPR.

The student returned, running into the room with first aid kits, bag’s and boxes all attached to her. “Miss, I wasn’t sure what to bring so I brought everything I could find!”

Laura continued her chest compressions, glancing at what the student had brought… “The defib! Get that AED open. And follow the instructions” Laura said, a feeling of calm had settled within her now. She felt she could better deal with this situation.

She gave two rescue breaths and continued compressions.

“Laura…” Her colleague had returned, “The ambulance is on the way.” They said coming around to the opposite side of her.

“Oh, good!” Laura said relieved, not pausing in her ministrations.

“Miss, we have to attach these to the chest.”

Yes! The defib! “Okay, Miss and I will take over from here.“ Laura said to the student, she thought best they not witness the next part incase something terrible happened. The students would be distressed enough as it is.

Laura got on with the task, sticking the pads to LaF’s chest and then paused, waiting for machine to act. She sat back on her heels as a shock radiated through LaFontaine’s lifeless form… then another. Neither Laura nor her colleague moved, was this right? They waited…Laura looked down at the AED just as an automated voice sounded.

_“No shock advised."_  

Laura frowned, what did that mean?

“Laura, I th- I think they’re breathing!”

Laura felt a huge gush of relief, as LaFontaine’s breathing appeared to stabilize before their eyes. She laughed a little deliriously and wiped the now joyful tears from her eyes as they started to fall.

Just then, Danny entered the room with two paramedics. Laura stood up and moved aside, she spoke to the paramedic’s as they started to analyze LaFontaine and the situation. They then secured LaFontaine to a stretcher and one of the medics turned to address Laura.

“You did a good job here, Ma'am. Well done. You’ve probably saved your friends life today.” She said, grabbing Laura’s arm reassuringly and smiling.

Laura took a few deep breaths to try and stop herself from shaking, the adrenaline was starting wear off and she was feeling a little out of sorts. Danny pulled her into a hug as the paramedic’s started to leave the room with LaF.

“Nicely done Laura,” Danny said pulling away and they both followed the medic’s out.

* 

Laura walked down the long hospital corridor holding flowers in one hand and her phone to her ear in the other.

“I’ll admit, I never thought I’d have to use any of that training so soon.” Laura spoke to Carmilla. 

“Cupcake, I’m proud of you. Well done, you’ve saved someone’s life today.” Laura shook her head in response, not that Carmilla would see it.

She glanced into LaFontaine’s hospital room; Perry was at their bedside. “I’ve gotta go, I’ll see you soon.”

She gave a little knock as she stood in the doorway, she couldn’t see whether LaF was conscious or not. Perry turned and then abruptly stood, marched across the room and pulled Laura into a hug, crushing the flowers between them.

“Thank you Laura! Thank you so much! I don’t know what I would have done. I dread to think what could have happened!” Perry spoke as she continued to squeeze Laura tightly.

“Perry!” Laura gave a little laugh.

Perry pulled back and let go of Laura, wiping a few tears from her eyes. “I can’t thank you enough Laura.” She said before turning and taking her seat by LaFontaine once more.

“How are they?” Laura asked, LaF was sleeping peacefully it seemed.

“They woke up about 30 minutes ago, murmured something about Doc Brown and fell back to sleep.“ Perry shrugged, leaning forward to grasp LaF’s hand.

“They’ve got some electrocution burns but other than that they should be fine, we hope. There are still some tests to be done but we have to wait for LaF to wake up first.”

Laura nodded, walking over the bedside and placing the now squished flowers on the table.

“Laura I dread to think what might have happened had you not known what to do.” Perry whispered. 

“To be honest, Perry I’m not sure how I managed it. I wasn’t particularly brave…” Laura shrugged looking down at LaF, “I was terrified actually.”

“You saved LaFontaine’s life, Laura.” Perry said, “You’re a hero.”

Laura was about to respond when a husky voice spoke up and both looked towards LaFontaine, “Have to say I’m kinda glad it you that took that first aid class and not me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hinted at LaFs dangerous experiments in the first chapter and I thought Laura would have had to use her training at some point.


	9. Hollis Hailed Hero

"I'll be right back," Laura stood from her chair at LaFontaine’s bedside, looking down at her phone distractedly.

"Ooh, is that her?" LaF said, pushing themselves into more of a sitting position on their hospital bed, fixing their hair and grinning broadly.

"Yes- _please don't_...never mind." Laura shook her head and smiled, whatever she said to LaFontaine, they would _definitely_ do the opposite. She moved around the bed towards the door. Kirsch, who was standing, procured Laura's chair next to Perry.

She took the stairs down to the main floor, glancing around the large hospital entrance. Carmilla had said she would meet her here.

She hadn’t seen Carmilla in three days, being busy with work but it had felt like longer. Laura hadn’t expected to see her today either but given the circumstances, Carmilla had insisted.

Where is s-oh, Laura frowned.

Carmilla was half kneeling down in front of an elderly gentleman who was sitting back in one of the chairs in the main entrance. She was smiling at him and gesturing with her hands as she spoke. She placed a hand on his shoulder and then shook her head with a laugh. The elderly man smiled, she was quite clearly charming him. Carmilla stood and strolled over to the front desk. She had a short conversion with the assistant and pointed at the gentleman.

When she turned, she spotted Laura across the room and smiled as she approached, grabbing a balloon that must have been hers along the way. This made Laura smile; she’d bought LaF a ‘Get Well Soon’ balloon!

 "What was that all about?" Laura said, looking around Carmilla at the old guy. 

"Oh, he seemed a little… confused, he was heading outside, turns out for a cigarette.” She frowned. “Which he really shouldn't do, since he told me he came down here from the cardiac unit. I just asked that he be escorted back down there."  

Laura shook her head, smiling, "You're remarkable, Carmilla."

"No I ju- omph!" Laura quickly wrapped her arms around her in a tight hug. Carmilla wasn't really able to do much but stand there and happily endure it.

When Laura pulled away they gazed at each other for a moment and Carmilla leaned down to place a kiss to Laura's lips and she sighed contently. She’d missed Carmilla more than she realized.

"Good job today, Cutie, I'm proud of you… _and_ to know you actually _learnt_ something in my class.” She added with a smirk.

Laura rolled her eyes.

"...Come on, let's go, they'll be wondering where I got off too." Laura said.

" _Got off_ too?" Camilla said, raising an eyebrow,

"Where I went- _where I went_!" Laura said quickly, blushing and grabbing Carmilla's hand, pulling her along. “You’re ridiculous.”

“I thought I was remarkable?”

Laura grinned at her as they walked, “You’re both.”

She became serious, "Okay, LaFontaine is my best friend and well...just don't believe a word they say, please?"

Carmilla chuckled, "Yeah, sure thing."

They walked hand in hand into LaFontaine’s hospital room. The three inhabitants turned to look at them.

LaF was the first to speak, "So...This is the famous Carmilla Karnstein I've heard so much about."

"Um..." Carmilla started to speak but LaF continued, smiling broadly placing their hands behind their head in a completely relaxed pose. 

"No leather pants today?" They asked.

Laura blushed deeply and Carmilla looked at her with a questioning look before looking back to LaFontaine from where they stood at the end of the bed.

She smiled, "No, not today bu-." 

Laura interrupted, "Okay! Let's just- everyone this Carmilla. Carmilla, this is LaFontaine and Perry and you already know Kirsch.” Laura said quickly trying to change the subject.

"Hey, nice to meet you both." Carmilla nodded at LaF and Perry.

"Hi, Dudebro." Carmilla said looking to Kirsch.

Perry stood leaning across bed to shake Carmilla’s hand. "Lovely to finally meet you, Carmilla." She said softly.

LaFontaine just smiled from their bed, "I see you’ve brought me a gift.” They stated. “A balloon, is that all?” they joked.

Carmilla chuckled, "Hey, my girlfriend just saved your life, with training that _I_ gave her. Is that not enough?"

LaFontaine laughed and proceeded to thank Carmilla for their balloon.

Laura was frozen to the spot. Girlfriend!? She called me her girlfriend! 

"Man, I wish I had been there!" Kirsch suddenly spoke up loudly, making Laura flinch. “I could have saved you bro!”

"I don't." Perry interrupted, "No offence, Kirsch." She patted his thick arm. “Laura did a great job on her own.”

LaFontaine, who was obviously bored of this conversation turned to Carmilla, "Hey Carmilla, Laura tells me you ride a motorcycle. You know, I think Laura here has a thing for dang-" 

"Actually! Carmilla and I are going to leave now! We have dinner plans." Laura said quickly grabbing Carmilla's arm. 

LaFontaine and Carmilla both started to laugh.

"It was nice to have met you, albeit not for very long." Carmilla said quickly as she was pulled from the room.

They entered the hallway, "That's quite enough of that." Laura said.

"I liked them." Carmilla shrugged. "Also, what dinner plans?"

"This one… I'm hungry, let's get food." She said smiling at Carmilla and reaching for her hand.

Carmilla unexpectedly leaned over to kiss her firmly; Laura frowned when she pulled away too soon.

“I missed you,” Carmilla said, sounding almost surprised at her own words. 

"Ooh, then maybe…instead, we could just go-" Laura mumbled, staring at Carmilla, running her fingertips up and down her arms.

"No, let's get food, I haven't eaten since I shared lunch with my new lover this afternoon." Carmilla said, smiling playfully and turning for the exit. 

Laura choked and Carmilla let out an enthusiastic laugh.

"Oh my god, _Carm_ , don't _say that_." Laura frowned and Carmilla wrapped at arm around her shoulder. 

“Just kidding, Cupcake,” She said mischievously, “…it wasn’t _lunch_ I was eating.“

She gasped in shock and Carmilla laughed again, “You are _too_ easy.”

Carmilla rolled her eyes at Laura’s pouty face, “Okay, I wasn’t eating lunch with any lovers, calm down, Cupcake.”

 Laura frowned, “Well...I _was_ eating lunch with a new _love_...” Trying to look serious as she could.

“Oh, yeah?” Carmilla said with a smile, “Found a new cookie you’ve never tried?”

Laura pouted again at Carmilla’s complete lack of gullibility and refusal to even play along.

“…Yes.” Laura said firmly with annoyance. 

*

 "No, their exam is tomorrow, I'm not certain any of them will pass." Carmilla said, referring to her new students.

They were eating in some dive nearby the hospital that Carmilla said had _the best pizza_. Laura thought she might be right.

"Wow and I thought our class was bad." Laura giggled. 

"Oh no, your group was somewhat teachable." Carmilla said taking a sip of her water. "I mean look at you, you saved someone's life today."

Laura was quiet for a moment, dropping her pizza slice onto her plate, "It was terrifying, Carm. I _never_ want to have to do anything like that again..." She said sincerely.

Carmilla reached across the table to grab her hand, "Cupcake..." she smiled, "Not everyone could do what you did today. The whole point of the training is to give you the skills to help, no one _wants_ to have to do it but at least now you know you can."

Carmilla looked to a lady a few tables away from them, "If she collapsed right now, would you help her?"

"Of course!" Laura said quickly and then she paused, "Well, actually Carm, I think I'd probably just leave it to you."

Carmilla shook her head with a chuckle.

“That’s reasonable,” she said as they began to eat once more.

Laura set her pizza slice down in defeat after a few moments, “I’m done.” She said, wiping her hands on her napkin.

“So...do you wanna go to my apartment and maybe-"

 "No." Carmilla said and Laura’s face dropped to a frown. 

Carmilla smiled, "Lets go to mine, it's closer."

“Ooh, your place?” Laura clapped her hands together.

They both stood and Laura paused, "What is it?" Carmilla asked, looking concerned.

"Can we box up the rest of the pizza and take it with us?" Laura said seriously.

Carmilla chuckled, “Of course.” 

*

Laura was pushed up against the door when they entered Carmilla's apartment.

She made a surprised squeak as Carmilla kissed her firmly, "Did I tell you I really like this formal attire you’re wearing..." Carmilla said as she ran her hands under Laura's suit jacket.

Laura huffed a laugh quickly, "This is..." she took a breath as Carmilla started pulling her shirt from her pants, her knee pressing into her in the most perfect way, "... what I wear to work."

Carmilla started placing kisses down her neck when her hands moved to the buttons on Laura's shirt.

Laura glanced distractedly around the apartment, trying to get a look around and made an ooh sound when Carmilla's cold hands unexpectedly touched the bare skin of her torso.

"This is a nice apar-"

Carmilla covered Laura's mouth with her lips as her hands fell to Laura's hips and then to unbutton her pants quickly.

Laura returned the kiss enthusiastically, slanting her hips forward in encouragement.

Carmilla pulled away an inch to look at her just as her hand was pushing into Laura’s underwear. Laura moaned, her head hitting the door with a loud bang that neither of them noticed as Carmilla’s fingers ran through Laura’s folds.

Carmilla gazed at her, smiling, “So, you like my leather pants, huh?”

Laura’s eyes opened, slowly processing what Carmilla had said. She flushed but couldn’t find any words as Carmilla’s fingers continued their ministrations.

She paused a mere few seconds later and Laura made a frustrated groan. 

“I didn’t realize they did it for you, Cupcake.” She smirked, dropping a kiss to Laura’s lips.

“What is about them?” She asked, her voice coarser than usual.

Laura only whimpered loudly when Carmilla’s fingers pressed against her clit, her hips shooting forward. She couldn’t even think to respond, not when Carmilla was touching her like this.

A groan of, “Carm.” Slipped from her mouth when Carmilla slid her nose along her neck and she spoke into her ear.

“Should I go find them now, Cupcake? Is that what you want?” Pulling away slightly, enough for Laura to moan and grab Carmilla’s waist tightly, forbidding her from going anywhere.

Laura opened her eyes, swallowing another moan. She was going to speak, she was going to say how much she adored Carmilla’s pants but how she much preferred her without any clothes at all. Carmilla’s fingers dipped and entered her abruptly and Laura wasn’t able to do much other than grip Carmilla tightly and make strangled moaning sounds.

“What about my motorcycle, Laura? Does seeing me straddling the bike turn you on?”

Laura shivered; she was breathless and lingering on the precipice as Carmilla’s fingers moved within her. She moaned, her forehead coming to rest against Carmilla’s, her hips shifted erratically.

“Or is it the danger that turns you on?”

Laura didn’t care, anything Carmilla said right now would be correct, she gripped Carmilla’s waist tightly as her orgasm shook her and Carm leaned in to kiss her.

“Carm…” Laura said, the legs almost giving out on her, leaning heavily on Carmilla who wrapped an arm around her as she removed her other hand from Laura’s pants.

“I think you deserve a little… reward for your bravery today.” Carmilla spoke in her ear. 

“That wasn’t a reward?” Laura smiled, as she clung to her.

“Oh no but there’s a lot more where that came from.” Carmilla kissed down her throat.

Laura righted herself leaning back against the door.

 Carmilla was looking down at her and smirking.

Laura frowned, glancing down at herself. Her pant suit incredibly disheveled and her shirt and pants unbuttoned.

“I like _this look_ a lot better.” Carmilla said, kissing her again.

Carmilla pulled her along into her bedroom, as Laura glanced around the apartment nosily. She noted the black sheets of Carmilla’s bed before she was pushed on top of them.

“Wait! Wait!” Laura laughed and Carmilla paused when she was about to climb on top of her. Laura sat up and carefully removed her shirt jacket and then her pants. Getting up and placing them carefully on a chair in the room followed by her shirt. Carmilla huffed impatiently. 

“I just didn’t want these clothes getting all bunched up somewhere.” Laura smiled as she took her place again on the bed.

“You’re still wearing _all your clothes_ , Carm.” Laura said, moving to pull Carmilla’s shirt over her head. Carmilla allowed this but grabbed Laura’s hand when she reached for her pants. 

“Keep your hands up here.” She said to Laura between kisses as she pushed Laura’s hand above her head.

“Okay, this doesn’t seem like a very nice _reward_ , Carm, if I’m not allowed to touch you.” Carmilla just smiled, her leg moving to brush between Laura’s legs in an attempt to keep her quiet.

Carmilla held Laura’s arms above her head and kissed her then moving to lay kisses along her throat. Moving to pull off Laura’s underwear and bra, pushing Laura's hands back down above her when she was done, to Laura’s frustration. 

Carm moved to pay more attention to her neck and Laura decided to test Carmilla’s little game. She moved her hands down to Carmilla’s back moving one up to slide into her hair. Carmilla chuckled and shook her head, grabbing Laura’s arms and pushing them back up into the pillows.

Laura smiled, she gripped Carmilla’s wrists and then quickly brought them together, holding both of them in one of her hands tightly and wrapped her leg around Carmilla’s, bringing her free hand down to her waist and forcing her over onto her back. Carmilla looked surprised and Laura giggled as she settled a top of her.

“That’s not how the rewar-” Carmilla started to speak but Laura kissed her firmly and Carm’s hands fell to her waist. She moved down Carmilla’s neck, her favorite place. A moan left Carmilla’s mouth as she sucked at the skin there.

Laura shivered at the sound; she had never heard Carm make a sound like that before. She smiled against her throat; it was the most alluring sound she thought she'd ever heard.

“You know, I think this is will be a _great_ reward,” Laura said above her.

Carmilla just groaned in response and shifted her hips underneath her as Laura moved to undress her fully. Carm's hands gripped her hair as Laura lips found her breasts. “So, you can touch and I can’t?” Laura asked, looking at her.

She groaned, taking some deep breaths and Laura shook her head, smiling as her hand reached down to touch her 

Carmilla’s hips began to move as she caressed her but then Laura stopped. Carmilla opened her eyes, peering down at her with irritation.

“Carm, can I ask you something?” She asked.

“No.” Carmilla said huskily, moving her hips against Laura’s unmoving hand.

“It’s just….” Laura started and Carmilla let out a groan of frustration. 

“…You called me your girlfriend, in the hospital earlier… you called me your girlfriend.” Laura said quietly, looking down at her suddenly unsure of herself.

Carmilla stilled and looked up at Laura in confusion, she took a ragged breath, “Well isn’t that what you are, Cutie?” She said reaching to stroke Laura’s thighs.

“I want to be.” She murmured, leaning her face close to Carmilla who leaned up to kiss her. She moaned when Laura’s hand picked up its rhythm again.

Laura watched Carmilla’s face intently as she worked her fingers but she couldn’t stop herself from enquiring further.

“Are we?” Laura asked, continuing this quite important conversation as if she didn’t currently have two fingers inside of Carmilla.

“Whaa?” Carmilla moaned.

“Am I…Are you my girlfriend?” Laura asked coyly.

“Ughhh, Christ! Laura is this really the most appropriate time!?” Carmilla groaned, frustrated by Laura’s consistent interruptions. Laura laughed silently, kissing Carmilla, whose hips were rocking enthusiastically against her hand.

“Answer my question,” Laura said against her lips.

“Yes! Fuck Laura, yes!” Carmilla screeched as she came apart below her, it was wonderful, memorizing Laura as she watched.

Carmilla pulled Laura against her chest, holding her tightly. Breathing raggedly, slowly returning to normal.

“So, was that a yes?” Laura suddenly spoke up.

Carmilla groaned and rolled her eyes, “You know what, I’ve changed my mind.” She said, covering her face with a pillow. 

*

 It was two weeks later and Laura luckily hadn’t needed to perform any more first aid, well… on anyone other than herself. She had burnt her hand just yesterday on a kitchen implement she had grabbed, when helping her elderly neighbor, who had set a small fire in her kitchen. Laura was almost certain the lady was going completely blind.

Lafontaine had stayed in hospital for 4 days and had recovered well. Fortunately there were no lasting effects from the electrocution they had endured or from the fact they were dead for close to 4 minutes. They were due to return to school in the next week, which Laura was happy about, she had missed LaF around work. LaFontaine on the other hand, was not happy. They had been told they were not to teach practical lessons for a while and nothing experimental anymore, Perry was ecstatic about this.

Once work had calmed down for Laura, she was able to set more time aside to see Carmilla. She was always full of hilarious stories from the students in her class, some people were just not cut out for first aid. They had been spending a lot of time together; Carmilla had even taken Laura out for a ride on her motorcycle which Laura thought was one of the most exhilarating things she had ever experienced. Carmilla had frowned when Laura suggested she acquire her own bike and encouraged she just keep her car for time being.

There was a knock on Laura’s apartment door on Thursday night and Laura shook her head and smiled, opening the door.

“I told you, just to let yourself in.” Laura said, when Carmilla stepped inside, removing her jacket and placing it and her helmet on the floor next to the door.

“Ooh, the leather pants,” Laura said now completely distracted.

Carmilla smiled, “I will next time.”

 Laura closed the gap between them, giggling and kissed Carmilla who wrapped her arms around Laura tightly, kissing her back with yearning.

 “How was your day?” Carmilla asked, pulling away only an inch.

 Laura shrugged, “The usual, _oh_ but the journalism club printed a section in the school newspaper about me.” Laura smiled, proudly. “The headline read, _Hollis Hailed Hero_.”

 Carmilla laughed, “Wow, Cupcake, is there a _Laura Hollis Day_ at school yet?”

 Laura rolled her eyes, “Not yet.” She said jokily, "I'm working on it."

 Carmilla kissed her again when they were both still smiling, Laura sighed happily bringing her hands up to Carmilla’s face.

 After a moment or so, Carmilla pulled away frowning.

 “What is that?” She said, grabbing Laura’s hand. “Laura, what happened to your hand?” She said looking down at the bandage with concern.

 “Oh,” Laura shrugged, “Burnt it. Funny story actually.”

 Carmilla just frowned, “How did you burn your hand? Let me see.”

 “Well.” Laura smiled, “I was helping my neighbor …she’s _not_ …I think she’s going blind or something.” She whispered like she might overhear them.

 “I don’t know, she set fire to her kitchen… a little, yesterday. I helped her out, burnt my hand on something scorching, think it was a… spatula or something, I’m not sure.” Laura said coolly as she removed the bandage. “We managed to put it out with a fire blanket though.”

 Carmilla took Laura’s hand impatiently to finish removing the bandage, getting a look at the wound, “Laura! This looks really bad.” she said, concerned.

 Laura shrugged, “It doesn’t hurt, Carm.”

 “Cupcake, that’s not a good sign!” Carmilla looked closer at the burn across Laura’s palm. “You’ll have burnt the nerve endings in your hand. That’s why it _doesn’t hurt_. Has somebody taken a look at this?” Carmilla looked up at her with a frown.

 “You just have.” Laura grinned, Carmilla did not.

 “Did you use any burn dressings, any gels on this?”

 “No.” Laura replied, the smile leaving her face.

 “Did you at least run it under cold water?” Carmilla asked, looking slightly outraged.

 "Yes.” Laura said quickly, hoping for a more positive reaction from Carmilla now, who continued to stare down at the burn on her hand.

 “For how long?” she said testily.

 Laura didn’t reply.

 Carmilla shook her head, “We need to cover this up, right now and keep it covered.”

 She held Laura’s wrist as she pulled her into the kitchen where Laura’s first aid kit was kept.

 She pulled it out assessing the contents as she spoke, “Did you call fire department?”

 “Erm…I almost did but in the end we just thought because we put it out, it would have been a waste of time…” Laura was feeling uncomfortable now; Carmilla was overreacting to this surely.

 Carmilla started to bandage her hand and let out an annoyed huff at Laura’s words and then spoke suddenly, it made Laura flinch.

 "Laura, this was so dangerous! You should have called the fire department, do you know-“ She sucked in a breath, “Do you know how far you can move around a smoke filled room?”

 Laura shrugged, “No, Car-”

 “About 9-10 ft., then you’ll pass out. Did you know smoke inhalation is the most common cause of death in house fires? Are you aware of the dangerous fumes produced by-“

 “Carm!”

 She paused, frowning as she finished bandaging Laura’s hand.

 “ _It wasn’t that bad_!”

 "Yeah… well, it easily could have been. Laura, you’re not meant to walk into dangerous situations like that.” Carmilla said her hands waving erratically.

 “You would have done it.” Laura reasoned.

 “Well, that’s… different.”

“How?”

“Because… I know what I’m doing!” She yelled, angrily.

“Carm, it wasn’t even that dangerous!” Laura said feeling anger rising within her now.

Carmilla took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of her nose and silence fell, except the sounds of their hasty breathing. “Is your neighbor okay?”

“Yes… I think so.”

“Have you seen her today?” 

“Yes.” Laura nodded. 

“Good.”

There was an uncomfortable tension in the room that Laura didn’t like.

“I don’t understand why you’re getting so worked up about this.” Laura said, her voice sounding loud in the now very quiet room, her ears were ringing.

“Laura, _how_ could you be _so_ naive-”

“You have no idea, Carmilla! You weren’t even here!” Laura yelled.

“But I care about you, Laura!” 

Camilla looked down to the floor, took a step backwards, then moved to grab her things.

“Keep that burn covered.” Carmilla said firmly before turning for the door and leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies, for the wait. I wanted to have the story finished before I posted anymore. This is the penultimate chapter and there will be a short epilogue as well. 
> 
> Cheers for the kudos and that.


	10. Here we are again

When Laura's morning alarm rang, she was already awake, staring at the ceiling of her bedroom, listening to the heavy rain. Her mind was repeatedly reliving the events of last night.

_Laura had stood fixated to the spot, staring at the space where Carmilla had just been. A deafening silence filled the room after the shrill sound of the door shutting._

_She moved slowly over to the window, almost trance-like, just in time so see a motorcycle speed off along the dark street below. Laura tried to assess what had just happened, it was all so quick, so overwhelming. This wasn't how tonight was meant to have gone. Laura genuinely hadn't expected Carmilla to react like that; she hadn't expected her to be bothered about her bandaged hand at all. It really wasn't a big deal was it? Carmilla was obviously overreacting._

_She ran a hand through her hair and moved to sit on the edge of the couch, looking down at her fresh bandage as she a released a long sigh._

Laura reached over for her phone, silencing her alarm but not initially moving from her bed as she once again considered Carmilla’s reaction.

She placed herself in Carmilla's position, would she have been upset if Carmilla had done the same thing? Probably not... Laura supposed that maybe there was something more here. Carmilla cared about her though at least; she'd said it just before she left. 

Laura had tried to call Carmilla in desperation in the early hours when she couldn't sleep but her phone had been switched off. She sent her an apology by text even though she wasn't entirely sure what she was apologizing for.

When Laura made it into work that morning, she taught her classes as if on autopilot. When lunch came around, Danny asked her if she was okay, Laura had initially tried to pass it off as tiredness but Danny wouldn’t give up, stating that she’d been around Laura when she’d had no sleep and she was definitely way more energetic than this. 

She eventually spilled the whole story and was surprised when Danny took Carmilla's side.

"You can't just run into a burning apartment, Laura." Danny chuckled. 

"It wasn't a _burning apartment_!" She rolled her eyes.

 "It easily could have been." Danny reasoned, "Knowing you Laura, you’d have probably ran in there even if it was."

 At least Danny didn’t freak out and leave, she changed Laura's bandage for her and gave her a hug. She told Laura not to worry, that Carmilla only got so worked up because she cared about her.

 Laura glanced up at the clock on the wall as she tried to grade papers at her desk, almost 4pm.

 She remembered back to one month ago when LaF had come tumbling through her classroom door asking her take the first aid class that would trigger so much change.

 Laura checked her phone _again,_ still radio silence from Carmilla, she had tried calling her again at lunch but there was no answer.

 She frowned, picking up her pen and looking back down at the essay in front of her but not reading a single word. She huffed in annoyance, this wasn't fair. _That's it,_ she thought, standing and grabbing her things, she couldn't stand this any longer. Laura rushed out to her car; if she was quick she could probably catch Carmilla before she left work. 

 She pulled up outside the training center, hitting the buzzer on the door a few times impatiently. She cupped her hands around her face to the glass and peered in. She saw the small woman, whose name she had never caught, jump up from her chair behind the desk and then the door opened.

 Laura said a rushed hello and continued on down the corridor, remembering the way, of course she did. She reached Carmilla's classroom and paused, her hand hovering near the handle. She listened - she could hear nothing. 

 It occurred to Laura that this was eerily similar to the first time she had been stood in his hallway, outside this door. The nerves were back, the nerves she had felt when she was stood in this exact spot the very first time. 

 She steeled her resolve, took a deep breath and opened the door. Her eyes landed on her desk first, the desk she had sat at everyday and enjoyed watching Carmilla teach, the desk they sat around together at lunch even though it was almost too small.

 And then they landed on Carmilla, in the green polo that Laura hated but also adored because it was Carmilla’s ugly green polo. She was at her desk staring at the computer with intent and looked up when the door squeaked to a halt.

 Their eyes met, Carmilla's expression was unreadable. Laura awkwardly entered the room coming to stand in front of her desk, touching it reminiscently. She remembered the very first time she had sat at this desk, when Carmilla had leaned over her, gripping the sides and she had mesmerized Laura almost immediately. 

Laura opened her mouth to speak her mind but found she had nothing, “Car-erm…”

“So it appears our newest classmate is showing symptoms of a stroke.” Carmilla said with a smirk, repeating the very first thing she said to Laura on the day they met.

Laura shook her head with a smile, feeling a little better now that the tension in the room seemed to have dissipated some.

 “Please stop ignoring me, Carm,” she said sadly, looking up at her now.

 Carmilla took a deep breath and stood up, she rubbed the back of her neck and ran a hand through her hair. Her eyes scanning Laura and landing on her injured hand. 

 She approached, reaching for the hand, "Who bandaged this?" She asked with a frown, obviously disapproving as she started to remove it. Laura's lips twitched upwards slightly. 

 "It looks good,” she nodded, re-bandaging the injury to her own liking. She held Laura's hand for a moment longer before letting go. 

 No! Laura screamed in her head. 

 Carmilla looked at her then and seemed to be considering something.

 "I'm sorry, Laura..."

 There was silence until Carmilla spoke again.

 “I may have… overreacted slightly." She smiled, a little embarrassed

 “Slightly?” Laura raised an eyebrow and Carmilla shook her head before speaking seriously again.

 “But, what you have understand is that…" Carmilla took a step back as she started to speak more eloquently.

 "I've seen this sort of thing time and time again, Laura and it doesn't always end well. You were very lucky."

 "… _Even_ if it wasn't such a big deal to you." Carmilla finished with a pout.

 "Carm, I didn’t realize-" Carmilla interrupted her. 

 "Look, the injury doesn't matter, that will heal... but when I saw that burn on your hand last night, it made me… realize, _hell_ it made me _scared_. You’re just as fragile, just as vulnerable... I never thought…" She paused, pinching the bridge of her nose. 

 Carmilla stepped closer then, taking Laura's bandaged hand in both of hers.

 “I was a different person when William died. It _ruined_ me… I was trained to save lives and I couldn't even save my own brother. No matter how hard I tried." 

"I took _this_ job…” She gestured around the classroom, “…because I thought if I can teach people these skills, then maybe other people's loved ones won't have to die, maybe people don’t have to feel the way I do."

 “I’m sorry I got so upset but Laura, I’ve known you for what… a month? One day, you saunter into my classroom and your simple presence in the room made me feel better and I didn't feel so damaged anymore."

 “But Laura, you gotta be careful." She said almost erratically, as she gripped her hand. "Because if I, _god forbid_ , I think if I lost you now… It would break me for good." 

 Laura felt tears welling up in her eyes as they stared at each other. She reached up to the sides of Carmilla’s face, stroking her thumb over her cheek; Carmilla turned her head to the side, placing a kiss on Laura’s bandaged hand.

 “Carm, I’m not going anywhere…” Laura whispered. Carmilla closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against Laura's, breathing deeply.

 Laura moved up to kiss her gently; Carmilla returned the kiss with a little more enthusiasm, her hands sliding into Laura's hair.

 Carmilla smiled at her when they separated, "I'm sorry for leaving last night, I just needed some time, I couldn’t really… understand my own reaction. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt anything like this." Carmilla said seriously.

 “Carm, don’t worry about it.” Laura smiled at her, “But please don’t freak out the next time I come home with a paper cut, which is quite often actually, you’d probably be surpri-”

 Carmilla lips found Laura’s again and kissed her fervently then, Laura’s heart was hammering in her chest, she hadn’t known what to expect from Carmilla but she certainly had not expected this. She smiled and then groaned when Carmilla deepened the kiss. Her legs were suddenly feeling a little weak and she moved back, sitting down on edge of her desk. Carmilla gripped the sides of the desk as she followed Laura's lips with her own. 

 When they eventually broke apart, Laura giggled quietly in elation and then glanced around at the familiar room as Carmilla leaned into her.

 “So, here we are again…” Laura said, her gaze returning to Carmilla's. 

 She chuckled, "Cupcake, I can't even tell you the amount of times I’ve imagined taking you on this desk in the past few weeks." Carmilla smirked, pushing herself even closer, standing between Laura's legs and rubbing her hands up and down her thighs.

 "Ooh, really?" Laura replied, enthusiastically, a blush rising on her face. She reached her hands into Carmilla’s hair and pulled her down for another firm kisses. Carmilla arms came around her tightly with a groan.

 “Cupcake, are you in need of a little refresher course by any chance?” She smirked against her mouth.

 “Oh, definitely.” Laura murmured.

Carmilla started to pull away, smiling, "Good, I'll grab the CPR dummy-"

Laura giggled loudly, hugging Carmilla tightly to her, “No, I think I'd rather perform it on you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue tomorrow.


	11. Epilogue

Laura yelped in pain as the hot water overflowed from the cup onto her hand next to it as she distractedly poured herself a cup of cocoa.

She had been listening to the sounds of Carmilla moving around their apartment as she assumed she was getting ready for work. When Laura yelped, the noise ceased and then she heard footsteps coming down the hall from their bedroom heading her way.

“I’m fine.” She called immediately before Carmilla had even appeared.

“What happened?” Carmilla said as she entered the kitchen in her work entire, fastening the last few buttons on her shirt.

“Just a little hot water on my hand.”

Carmilla shook her head, smiling, reaching for Laura’s hand and bringing it up to her lips, kissing the red patch of skin.

“I gotta go to work.” She breathed out a sigh.

Laura nodded, “Okay, be careful.”

Carmilla leaned forward to kiss her, “ _You_ be careful _as well_.” Carmilla said mocking stern, looking down at Laura’s hand once more.

“Run it under some cold water, for ten minutes _at least_.” Carmilla said, knowing that Laura would likely just get bored or distracted after a few minutes.

“I’ll be back later tonight, _don’t_ wait up for me.” Carmilla warned and Laura frowned. 

“…But I always like to talk to you about your shift, Carm.”

 “You can talk to me tomorrow, Cupcake.” Carmilla glanced down at her watch.

 “I’ve really gotta go.” She said regrettably, she gazed at Laura and leaned in to kiss her again.

 Carmilla wandered over to the couch and sat down, pulling on her boots as Laura watched her.

 They’d been together for a year and half now, the best one and a half years of Laura’s life. Carmilla had quit her job as an instructor and for the past 5 months had been back working as a paramedic. Laura knew she loved her job. It was rewarding for Carmilla to feel like she was helping people again and Laura loved that too.

 Laura hadn’t needed to save anyone’s life recently, which she was very content with and LaFontaine was happily back on active science duty, though they had to discuss potential experiments with colleagues before they were given the go ahead and Perry had forced LaF to take a first aid course so they could fully ascertain potential dangers and how to approach them. They failed the course.

 To kirsch’s delight, his wait paid off and he did save a life in the end, Danny’s in fact when she choked a grape in the staffroom one day. Danny had been heard saying she’d much rather choke to death in future than have Kirsch perform abdominal thrusts on her again but Laura new she was secretly very grateful.

 “I love you.” Carmilla said to Laura as she approached her for one last quick kiss.

 “Love you too.” Laura responded, following Carmilla out into the living room as she was heading out.

 “Don’t forget your overcoat.” Laura said, snatching it up off the side and handing it to her.

 Carmilla opened the door and smiled at her before closing the door behind her.

 Laura sighed happily before returning to the kitchen to the sink. She stood with her hand under the cold water for a moment or so, looking around the room, becoming more bored by the second.

 “Ooh, cocoa.” She said enthusiastically turning off the cold water and heading over to her drink.

 Her phone rang in her pocket as she stirred the drink and brought it to her lips, it was Carmilla.

She brought the phone to her ear and then rolled her eyes, “I’m doing it, Carm.” She grumbled, returning to the sink.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Crap i almost forget to say something at the end. 
> 
> now i feel pressure to say something good... 0_0
> 
> Thank you for reading and all that good shit.
> 
> Will keep writing HP au, possibly also have another fic idea in mind, will give it some thought. 
> 
> Cheers.


End file.
